Committed to Safety: Active Aggressor Training

Oct. 1, 2017: Fifty-eight people were killed when a man opened fire on a crowd at a music festival in Las Vegas from a hotel room.
July 1, 2017: 28 people were hurt when someone opened fire in a nightclub in Little Rock, Arkansas. Police believe it may have been gang related.
June 30, 2017: A New York physician entered a hospital and opened fire killing one person and injuring six others before killing himself. The doctor was a former employee of the hospital and believed his former co-workers were responsible for him losing his job
Jan. 6, 2017: A 26 year-old man said he was working on behalf of ISIS when he opened fire in the baggage claim area of a Florida airport. He killed five people and injured others.

These are just a few of the recent stories of active aggression. There is really no pattern. No way to predict. Our companies, our jobsites and our employees could be at risk at any time. With that said we don’t think much about an attack as an imminent danger. Our jobsites, our corporate offices, we aren’t thinking about what could end up being the unthinkable.

At LPR, we don’t anticipate that there would be an active aggressor attack at our Loveland offices or at any of our projects located in areas across the map. But in the current world of uncertainty, we wanted to give our employees the tools to act swiftly and in their best interest if something ever happened.Tapping into our local law enforcement resources, LPR’s Safety Director Pat Hagan worked collaboratively with Master Police Officer, Dave Sloat of the Loveland, Colorado Police Department to evaluate our Loveland office and, as a result provide ‘Active Aggressor Training’ for our employees. Having a deep understanding of security and how to neutralize threats, Officer Sloat provided recommendations on how to protect ourselves in the event of an active aggressor.

One of our employees was directly impacted by the October shooting in Las Vegas as his daughter called him directly from the festival during the incident. This hits close to home and I am sure that there are a hundred stories just like this one that I don’t know.
LPR’s Core Value Committed to Safety goes beyond site-safety. Here’s hoping we never need to use our new training.

Celebrating Results

Written by Pat Hagan, Director of Safety LPR/Longbow

LPR Construction is proud to announce our achievement in Total Recordable Incident Rate Reduction for yearend 2017. We completed the year with a TRIR of 0.38. Although we realize that recordable rates are a “Lagging” indicator, we believe our success is deeply rooted in our LPR Core Values. The elements of which drive our process, methodology and who we are as a company. Our commitment to ensure everything we do protects our employees, customers and the public is always in the forefront.

How those Core Values relate to our reduction in the recordable rate can best be explained by reviewing each value:

Committed to Safety
• Our commitment to safety starts at the top with our Executive Management Team. They are engaged in every step of creating, socializing, implementing and evaluating our process. They drive participation from job site audits, incident reviews, project/supervisor training, to our craft listening tour. This is the example that is set every day for our work force.

We Over Me
• The word “I” is not in our vocabulary. Everything we do from education for our craft on hazards associated with their work, to detailing safe steps in the work processes that drive our business, is a Team Effort.

Competitive Sprit
• We apply this in how we approach our business regarding finding ways to better the safety of our craft and staff. We never settle for the status quo, but rather always search out better ways to protect our most valuable asset…Our Employees!

Do What You Say
• We tell our craft and staff that we are “committed to their safety, and want them to go home the same way they showed up”. Although that may sound cliché, we apply that to the development of all processes, programs, training, etc. I order to better protect the employees of LPR.

Be Part of the Solution
• We engage our craft to participate in all aspects of safety, from driving the responsibility to “never walk by a hazard” to performing audits and job site safety briefings. We value input from all of our employees, making adjustments for improvement.

Driven to Learn and Share Knowledge
• This is where the ‘rubber meets the road’ for eliminating hazards that injure employees. We are constantly researching new ideas for safety training, equipment, methods, etc. and leveraging technology to apply it to our business. Our founder invented a fall protection device for steel erection that has become the industry standard in protecting workers from falls!

So, when people say “TRIR is a Lagging Indicator” I just point to the Core Values that drive our business every day!

 

 

 

Work Safe, Live Safe, Stay Safe: ‘Struck By’

Work Safe, Live Safe, Stay Safe: ‘Struck By’

In the construction industry, falls, followed by ‘struck by’ are two of the leading incidents. Most of the time, when discussing ‘struck by’ incidents, we automatically think about someone getting hit by a piece of equipment such as a forklift, excavator or other equipment. However, that is not always the case. Most ‘struck by’ incidents are caused by something falling from heights and striking an employee below.

LPR’s practice is that that any tools, equipment or materials are required to be secured with lanyards or rope to prevent the items from falling. Materials stored on upper levels should be stored at a minimum of 6’ back from the edge.

In addition, inspection of tool lanyards should be performed each day, just as we would do with fall protection. If a tool lanyard is found to be damaged, remove it from service.

Did you know…?

  • In .5 seconds, an object will fall 4’ with a fall velocity of 16.08 feet per second and reach a speed of 10.9 MPH
  • In 1 second an object will fall 16’ with a fall velocity of 32.17 feet per second and reach a speed of 21.9 MPH
  • In 2 second an object will fall 32.45’ with a fall velocity of 64.35 feet per second and reach a speed of 43.87 MPH
  • What is the speed of terminal velocity? That depends on several factors, however, here we will use a typical .30-06 bullet dropping downwards. Wither the round is fired straight up into the air or dropped from a tower, the bullet will reach terminal velocity at almost 200 MPH traveling at 300 feet per second.

If a bolt is dropped from an elevated level of 30 feet, it will hit the ground in approximately 1 second and reach a speed of approximately 21 MPH. If this bolt were to hit a person on the way down, it would cause serious injury or potentially death.  Of course, the farther it falls the more serious the injury as the speed increases with distance. In the construction industry, most items that are dropped from heights do not always fall directly to the ground. They tend to ricochet down through the steel frame works of the structure ending up 20, 30 even 50’ away from where it would have landed coming straight down.

Imagine this Scenario:

A welder at elevation 310’ pulled some welding rod out of a rod caddie, dropping one rod through the grating. On elevation 242’ an employee was starting up the stairwell, the next thing he knew, he had a welding rod sticking through the bill of his hard hat 3”. He was lucky that it went through the bill and not the top of his hard hat.

It is up to all employees to help “STOP THE DROP” on our construction projects. The next item dropped from heights may just find you or your fellow employee when it reaches the bottom of its fall.

Let’s continue to strive towards a Safety culture where no one gets injured and everyone go home at the end of the day.

 

Blog entry submitted by:

David Terry – Safety Manager

Safety and Wellness “Accelerated Schedules”

Construction: Safety and Wellness “Accelerated Schedules”

At a recent frontline supervisor training specifically dedicated to leading ‘safety’ as a foreman or leadman, we discussed the relationship between an accelerated schedule and site safety.  No matter how great the site leadership, how knowledgeable the site safety managers or how engaged the craft worker, there can’t help but be some level of impact when the message is “we are going to work longer hours and we need to get this done…and safely!”.  It is a given that workers will get tired, there is a higher potential for near hits and incidents, and even the most engaged employees can experience lower morale.

What does this have to do with Wellness?  Accelerated schedules, as well as all construction projects, require that our skilled apprentices, journeymen and front line supervisors are feeling their best and making decisions with a clear head. OSHA would tell us that all incidents are preventable, but we know that there are sometimes those that are out of our control.  However, to avoid those that we can control, site leaders might want to consider the following:

  • Communicate clearly and often about Safety and Wellness: Awareness is the key to avoiding any near hit or incident. Starting the day out with a Safety Talk that speaks to the specific job, referring often to JHAs, JSAs, STAs and other job/task hazard and mitigation documents, and ensuring employees are working safely by walking the jobsite and engaging with workers will raise awareness exponentially.
  • Acknowledge that there is a potential for higher incidents during aggressive schedules…and why: We often think that our employees are only motivated by money, which may accompany an accelerated schedule as overtime. However, acknowledging an aggressive schedule and sharing the impacts on employees, can be motivating as well.  We can’t change what needs to be done but acknowledging it and thanking the crew for their hard work will go a long way.
  • Encourage and empower all employees to report ‘near hits’: Recently a safety consultant shared that an organization with a high percentage of reported ‘near hits’ demonstrates a strong safety culture. Encouraging workers to report their near hits is an opportunity for growth and learning during any construction project.  For those that are working ‘longer, harder, faster’ truthful reporting allows the site management to see and address early any trends that may be showing up on the site.  An early ‘root cause analysis’, with appropriate redirection, can mean the difference between safety and a near hit. Or worse, an incident or fatality!
  • Address employee ‘wellness’ directly: A safety talk doesn’t have to be about the job. It can be a talk on heat exhaustion/stroke or frost bite.  It can also be on topics such as ‘fatigue’ and dehydration, both symptoms that can show up as your workers are maxed out.  Asking crew members to watch out for each other facilitates a strong team environment. If a worker is working ‘fatigued’, he/she can be as impaired as if taking drugs or coming to work drunk or hungover.  Ensuring that all crews are physically and emotionally ‘well’ during times when projects are accelerated is key to both safety and production.

Safety and employee wellness are partners in strong and successful safety cultures.  EAPs (Employee Assistance Plans), programs for addictions and smoking cessation, and ‘Health Awareness’ programs are all tools to support and ensure that workers have access to being safe and well every day.

What I Learned During our VPP Audit

What I Learned During our VPP Audit

The word ‘audit’ sparks fear or at least gets our attention.  The very definition, “an official inspection of an individual’s or organization’s accounts, typically by an independent body” causes us to reflect on our practices, review our belief systems and evaluate our commitment to a particular value or idea. An audit forces an organization to take a deep dive into what they are doing, measuring it against criteria and ideals developed by the auditing organization.

LPR Construction has boasted the VPP designation for the last eighteen years, the longest any company has held the title in its division.  Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) is an OSHA initiative that encourages private industry and federal agencies to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses through hazard prevention and control, worksite analysis, training; and cooperation between management and workers.

Organizations that are recognized as VPP are audited on the following four elements:

  • Management Leadership, and Employee Involvement.
  • Worksite Analysis.
  • Hazard Prevention and Control.
  • Safety & Health Training.

Statistical evidence for VPP’s success is impressive. The average VPP worksite has a Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART) case rate of 52% below the average for its industry(1). These sites often do not start with exceptionally low rates. Reductions in injuries and illnesses begin when the site commits to the VPP approach to safety and health management and the challenging VPP application process. Participating in VPP benefits employers as we know fewer injuries and illnesses mean greater profits as workers’ compensation premiums and other costs plummet. Entire industries benefit as VPP sites evolve into models of excellence and influence practices industry-wide.

The VPP logo hangs in the offices of LPR and is displayed on the outside of mobile trailers used for training. Even with its long VPP tenure, practices that have been implemented and credited to participating with VPP can be easily identified and articulated.  The programs developed are part of the culture and LPR’s first core value ‘Commited to Safety’ further demonstrates LPR’s commitment to ensuring everyone goes home in the same shape they showed up to work in.

I learned of the VPP audit several weeks ago.  As Director of People Development, our training team already collaborates closely with Safety Leadership.  However, preparing for the VPP audit caused us to not only collaborate but evaluate our current practices. Meeting in preparation for the audit, LPR’s People Services Team (Recruiting, HR, Training and Safety directed by LPR’s CPO (Chief People Officer), spent valuable time talking about our safety training, the quality of our safety personnel, how we are currently impactful on site safety culture and the process facilitated a deep discussion on who is ultimately responsible for safety at LPR.  Agreeing that we are all responsible is why LPR integrates safety into all areas of the organization.  It is not only part of our culture, it represents an element our core.  We talk it, we walk it and we expect it.

What did I learn during our VPP audit?

  1. The depth of LPR’s commitment to being a safe organization, beginning with the CEO and President, the executive management team and reaching all the way to the foremen and craft employees.
  2. The depth of pride we have in our safety culture, the VPP designation and the measurable results of being a safe organization.
  3. Safety goes way beyond making sure that we avoid falls and recognize hazards before they happen. Although physical safety is paramount, there is also a strong focus on providing a safe emotional environment for our employees. Exceptional health benefits that we can count on, short and long term disability, a strong and highly utilized Employee Assistance Program and a commitment to send our site based employees home to their families for extended weekends are integral components of our program.
  4. We all know and can talk safety. Preparation for the audit was easy and LPR employee were candid and able to talk to our safety practices.
  5. The VPP Audit Team wants us to be successful. Although challenging and communicating high expectations, they are here to review our best practices and provide valuable feedback on where we are strong and where we need to think about further development.
  6. The auditing process was a learning activity. During the presentations and individual interviews, the rich discussion allowed us to reflect on where our practices were exceptionally strong and where we can improve.
  7. A commitment and vision for safety at the corporate level means nothing if practices aren’t applied and valued at the site level. Although we know that intuitively, the audit required us to evaluate how we message and communicate our practices and expectations.
  8. An even clearer understanding of my role as part of our commitment to safety. Developing our employees as skilled craft workers, ensuring they are engaged in their work and LPR as a company, and focusing on developing leaders across the organization is fundamental to a great safety culture.

I encourage any OSHA affiliated company or organization to engage in the application process for VPP.  The benefits of partnering with VPP in fully implementing best practices and being accountable for them have been numerous for LPR, including being able to display the VPP logo, establishing us as a safety leader to our current and potential customers.  There is nothing more important than safety, and unfortunately often we don’t realize that until we have an accident or fatality.  I am going to promote that all accidents are avoidable, and I feel fully equipped and supported to support that at LPR.