While the benefits of a project specific wrap-up or controlled insurance policy (CIP) have been studied, there are some drawbacks when it comes to safety on a CIP jobsite that may not be immediately clear. When an owner or contractor takes control of a jobsite’s the insurance program(s), subcontractors may perceive a shift in responsibility for safety. This incorrect perception has led some subcontractors to fall back on old habits and bad attitudes towards safety. This type of culture is difficult to infiltrate, especially once ground is broken and the work is underway.
Whether the negative safety culture is sensed at the beginning of the project or midway, the Haz-Trac mobile app can help in short time. We have analyzed over 9 billion dollars of construction jobs and identified a correlation between human interaction and losses suffered on a jobsite. When personnel aren’t empowered to engage in the site’s safety program, there are losses. Disengaged workers may put up with a more cluttered jobsite, and are more apt to walk by a minor hazard instead of taking the initiative to quickly correct it and prevent a more severe condition from occurring.
We’ve found that 94% of losses can be tracked back to behavior, with the balance rooted in site conditions. Culture is key to a safe CIP jobsite.
The Haz-Trac app makes safety easy, and builds in a mechanism for recognition of personnel for their positive engagement with safety on the site. For example, a worker leaves the morning meeting to walk to their work area. On the way, they notice a hole cover is damaged. On a jobsite with a negative safety culture, the worker would mostly likely walk by because the overall culture is that safety is not their job. On a site with the Haz-Trac app employed, a worker is more apt to take the initiative to fix the condition if they can, or talk to a supervisor or other worker who is able to fix the faulty hole cover. The worker would then take a photo and share it in the app noting the unsafe condition, categorizing it, and indicating that it has been resolved. The worker receives recognition for positive safety engagement at the quarterly Haz-Trac project awards and recognition ceremony, and best of all, the hazard is fixed and tracked!
The app’s tracking ability allows for site management to identify trends in real time. On an average jobsite, a dedicated site safety inspection may happen weekly. That means a hazard may be identified and then a week could pass before it is corrected. With Haz-Trac, safety inspections are spontaneously occurring all day, with information pushed to responsible parties immediately. This constant attention to safety with minimal effort builds a positive safety culture in which all personnel are engaged.
The Haz-Trac app ensures that personnel on the site default to reporting and correcting observations instead of the usual attitude of not saying anything due to being afraid of consequences, doing the wrong thing, or creating a hazard. By empowering site personnel to observe, correct, and report hazards, everyone on the site is truly engaged in safety, not just the Safety Manager. Haz-Trac fosters a “no blame” system that encourages proactive safety activities.
If you are involved in construction operations – get a free trial of Haz-Trac here.
