Safe Solutions

The ability for your company to operate safely depends largely on your commitment to prevent loss and how effectively you instill that commitment in your leadership team. If you are satisfied with mere compliance, the outcome will be an increased risk for a severe loss. On the other hand, if you strive for continuous improvement, the reward will be a lower risk of loss with significant gains in productivity, quality and bottom-line profitability.

Important factors

The key to success for any roofing contractor's safety program is implementation at job sites. When you are committed to safety and instill your safety philosophy in your leadership team, field supervision becomes the main mechanism by which your loss-prevention policies and procedures are implemented. The attitudes of individual workers toward a company loss-prevention program depend on the attitudes of their supervisors, as well as upper management.

A foreman's actions in directing work are the critical link to delivering safety success. Safe operations are practiced on the job site—not in your office. As the principal representative of management seen daily by workers, a field supervisor directly controls workers' activities.

A foreman must be thoroughly familiar with the duties and responsibilities of all parties involved in his company's loss-prevention program; be given clear responsibility for job-site safety; and be held accountable through a performance review and reward system. Foremen and supervisors should understand the economic effects of accidents and incidents, including cost implications for workers' compensation and other insurance coverage premiums. This will foster more intelligent decision making when supervisors direct work activity.

Responsibilities

Foremen carry a large part of the responsibility at job sites. A foreman should:

• Be the principal implementer of a company's loss-prevention policy and procedures and have the authority to require compliance
  
  
• Provide continual oversight and assessment of job sites, evaluating pre-job and pre-task planning procedures, safety, hazards and proper use of personal protective equipment and other equipment
  
  
• Communicate effectively with workers via group meetings and weekly toolbox talks to ensure awareness of job-site safety and provide rewards and feedback as warranted
  
  
• Maintain job-site performance records, training, inspections, investigations, statistics and other means to assess the level of implementation, taking corrective action for potential problem areas
  
  
• Ensure proper training or support is provided and maintained to include safety performance indicators and lessons learned from previous accidents, paying special attention to new or inexperienced workers
  
  
• Require all injuries and incidents to be reported promptly and fully investigated to prevent future accidents; determine what went wrong, why it happened and how future occurrences can be prevented; and share information with management
  
  
• Participate with upper management in the development of supervisor safety goals, including experience modification rate reduction; lost workday injury rate; and training, inspection and budgeting goals

Safety programs and success require an active, motivated and knowledgeable contractor, leadership team and foremen. To measure performance level, you should implement periodic reviews to identify weaknesses and strengths of each foreman with regard to carrying out his safety roles and responsibilities. An action plan to address areas for improvement should be outlined during the review and monitored throughout the year. Feedback consistent with the level of achievement toward reaching expectations should be provided.

Room for improvement

The roofing industry involves many safety risks. You carry the responsibility of ensuring your workers are safe. The key to safety is your commitment to keeping your workers and job site safe through constant communication, evaluation and improvement.

Marvelene Feucht is a program and underwriting director at CNA Insurance Cos., Chicago.