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HOME | BUSINESS | CONSTRUCTION SAFETY

How to Approach Jobsite Safety Meetings

March 1, 2016 By John J. Meola, CSP, ARM

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5 Tips to Maximize Jobsite Safety

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Among the most common complaints from field staff are 1) they need to hold a safety Demolition Machines
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under the sun. Same old, same old, and you really can’t fault these guys -- their job is
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It’s a proven fact that holding a safety meeting daily will keep your guys focused on Outcomes
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working safe. In fact, you should be allowing for at least a half-hour per day, per person in
your bid, to show you’re not going to try and skate on holding the meetings, at least you
show some time for it. If the owner is serious about their Project & Safety, they will respect
your position.

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Here are some general suggestions for topics and approaches to safety meetings. You
BUSINESS
need to figure out how to add the “local color and commentary” to make these topics
Business Services
applicable to your job site. Always discuss the job, what’s going on and how to do it safely.
Construction Safety
Always ask for everyone’s input, feedback, thoughts, and ideas on how to improve.
Labor & Workforce Development
Focus on the Job! CONCRETE

Divide it into small steps and talk about the safety factors of each step: Machines running Concrete Equipment & Products

around, dump trucks, defensive backing, use of a spotter, stay well away from anything Decorative Concrete

that moves, i.e. No sidewalk superintendents. Think about something called the Internal CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY
Work Zone Traffic Control Plan. Google that term and see what OSHA & NIOSH have to Apps
say about it. Also, talk about the use of tools, noise, PPE etc. All this stuff qualifies. You Construction Safety Technology
can get an app to turn your phone into a noise meter. You’d be surprised how noisy things
Equipment Monitoring & Logistics
can get.
Estimating & Bidding
Machine Grade Control, GPS, Laser &
Insist on High Visibility
Other
This applies to people but also to the rigs. Make sure they see you! Use buggy whips on Personnel Management
your rigs if they can be obscured by dirt piles, geography, other machines, etc. Use LED Project Management
strobes and daytime running lights on everything. Site Layout
Surveying & Layout
All persons must have high-visibility apparel, clean and properly worn.
Theft Prevention
Apply DOT red & white conspicuity tape to rear-facing surfaces.
Paint any obstructions on the site in high visibility marking paint. This paint will wash EQUIPMENT
off with a pressure washer if it conflicts with the landscape décor, but your focus right Attachments
now is safety, get it? Compaction Equipment
Crane
Plan for First Aid & Emergency Response
Earthmoving - Compact
For example, a lot of the 911 communication in rural or remote areas is pretty much a Earthmoving Equipment
toss-up. They can’t always find you based on you saying “I’m on a big construction site.” Fleet Maintenance
Really? Talk about sending someone out to meet & greet the EMS so they know exactly Material Processing & Debris Handling
where to find you. Snow Removal Equipment
Underground Equipment
Talk about your SSIP
Worksite Equipment
Pick any section and walk through it. You will already have talked about the SSIP in your
PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE
pre-work mobilization meetings, but there are always sections that can bear repeating. For
Pavement Marking & Striping
example, your emergency response plan (who will go to meet the EMS, who knows first
Pavement Preservation & Maintenance
aid, who calls the office, etc.) are all fair game to review
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Explain Water Gel Burn Blankets RENTAL

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This is a safety meeting all by itself. These blankets or pouched sheets are used to cool
and antiseptically passivate a burn on a person. But they can also double as a fire General Tool

extinguisher or escape device depending on the situation, such as trying to get people out Lifting Equipment

of a burning car at a gas pump. They’re a little pricey in the larger sizes, but when you Power
need it, they are in fact priceless. Rental Business

TRUCKS
Require Daily Pre-Work Stretching
Trucks & Accessories
Do this at the start of the shift and after lunch. Yes, you heard right, twice a day. This takes
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all of about four minutes but can save you a lot in soft tissue (sprain & strains) injury
avoidance. Great for building safety awareness. Better still if the Boss leads the exercises.

Encourage Defensive Driving

We all drive at some point. In fact over 40% of the 4700 occupational fatalities last year
were transportation related. Does this number tell you something?

Here’s a tip: call your safety supplier and tell them you want a dozen high-visibility seat
belt sleeves. Make these standard issue for your company vehicles. Yes, we understand
that you have a seat belt policy. Yes, your drivers religiously wear their belts. This sleeve
sends a message that you are serious about it. Not to mention it might save them a
speeding ticket if the cops figure the guy is part of your safety program. Remember, this is
not a beauty contest.

Discuss and Provide PPE

Personal Protective Equipment in all its wondrous forms: eye and face protection, hard
hats, different types and properly fitted gloves (a tight glove will decrease hand fatigue and
improve dexterity and grip) and more.

Watch the Weather

Yes, you heard right: Talk about the weather. OSHA is obsessive during the warmer
months because of the growing number of heat exhaustion cases. Do the research and
preach it. In the winter, talk about dressing in layers to stay warm and comfortable. This is
a wide open topic, but trust us, all of your peeps are going to have their own religion on
their dress code.

Make sure they understand that hydration is important all year round, and how eating junk
food for lunch will take its toll during the hot afternoons. Also make clear how our blood
will thicken in cold weather and thin in hot weather, and how by staying properly hydrated
this can make a big difference in alertness levels, onset of fatigue, and a few other human
cognition factors.

We hope this information is helpful to you. Honestly, we have seen some very high energy
safety meetings take place in the rain, on a muddy site, in the cold, because the guy
running the meeting connected with his crew and they knew he cared about them. Very
often, it’s not so much what you say, as how you say it.

Another lesson we should pass on is this: Just because you’re the boss doesn’t
automatically make you the best person to handle the meeting. If you have someone on
staff who is a better speaker and presenter, well, delegate, and let them deliver the
message. All you need to do is show up. You presence alone sends the message of
importance. The speaker is just the mouthpiece. Remember, this is not a personality cult,
it’s about the crew safety and not getting hurt. So leave the egos at the door and get your
meeting going!!

John J. Meola, CSP, ARM is safety director at Pillar Engineers and he can be
reached at 804-751-0600, ext. 4314 and jmeola@pillarens.com. He hosted “How to
Set Up and Run an Effective Safety Program” at National Pavement Expo, Jan. 25-
30 in Charlotte, NC.

Basic Safety Meeting References

Use the Internet, mother of all information. There are no rules on the
Internet so you can use anything you find (almost). But rule Number 2 is:
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. You’ll get the point
eventually.
The Operators Manual from the cab of each machine. This is normally
permanently attached on a cable so it does not get lost. You can go online
and download a copy, ask the dealer for a copy, or cut the cable and steal
the book and use it for show & tell at your meeting (reattach it when you’re
done). A lot of machines offer their manuals on-line. All you are looking for is
the safety information, most of which is clearly spelled out with warning
decals, pictorials and other easy-to-decipher symbols.
Bring in a vendor for an “expert witness” presentation. The guys who are
selling you gloves, shovels, hard hats, glasses etc. need to step up and
show up (bearing a tub of Coke and donuts) and host a meeting for you on
PPE.
Every tool can have an “ergonomic lesson” associated with it. Most of the
important stuff will be in the manual, so review it with a highlighter and use
that as your lesson plan.
There is no safety manual for a shovel. But a lot of soft tissue injuries
occur from improper shoveling. So teach the correct way to shovel. There is
an ergonomically correct way to do this, and a lot more incorrect ways. The
denser the material, the more attention you need to pay to this. Asphalt is
pretty dense stuff, so do some research. Ask the more experienced guys to
watch over the new guys to reinforce this message.
HazCom. This topic has been around since the Egyptians and is basically
useless in terms of applicability on a job site -- or so you might think. There
are a surprising amount of chemicals on the average site, and you should
have a Safety Data Sheet (paper or electronic) on hand for each of them.
Admittedly, it is a rare occurrence that a chemical causes a problem on the
typical job, but at least you’re making the effort. Diesel fuel, hydraulic fluid,
anti-freeze, WD 40, motor oil etc. Talk it up. If the stuff can burn, relate it
back to your fire safety talk. If someone gets a face full of something, you will
probably be looking for a data sheet to figure out what to use to flush it out of
their eyes or mouth.

Safety Meeting “Dos”

Bring stuff to show & tell: Safety hardware, tools, seasonal gear, etc.
Buy the crew a coffee and donut
Keep it brief, moving right along -- not a sermon
Whenever possible, the boss should show up; he doesn’t even have to
talk, just show up
Use a sign-in sheet – they’re a free cell phone app now, so you’ve got no
excuse
Leave time for questions. Not a philosophical debate, but honest questions
ALWAYS try to stimulate discussion and thinking about safety by asking for
input, comment, discussion, “What are you thinking?” etc.
Turn off the cell phones; bad news will find you, with or without the phone

Safety Meeting “Don’ts”

Reading from the page is a guaranteed snoozer; make it at least sound

current and fresh and real
Saying “They told me I had to do this” is a guaranteed turn off; show some
Team Spirit, even when it hurts
Accepting lame excuses for non-attendance
Acting like you don’t care by trying to “hurry it up”
Screwing around with your smart phone; making or taking a call

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