Building Safety Into Every Day

Second of two parts (See post of Nov. 16, 2016)

Recently, Kraus-Anderson has logged over 1.3 million worker hours in 2016 without a lost time accident. KA maintains one of the strongest safety performance records in the industry, thanks to the participation of every KA employee, in the office and in the field. The Safety Team recently discussed KA’s multifaceted approach to building safe work environment into the forefront of every employee’s awareness.

Q: What are some of the site-specific safety considerations on our KA Block?

ETHAN LAUBACH, CHST, SAFETY COORDINATOR: The progress on the KA Block is constantly changing both the work being performed and the safety considerations to take into account to perform the work.  KA has engaged Bob Durkee from OSHA consultation to walk through the project and help identify hazards.  The most recent consultation was Oct. 24, when he walked through with 17 foremen, superintendents and safety professionals.  Subcontractors are asked to deliver toolbox talks that relate to their work and safety issues onsite.

Due to the ever-changing landscape of the projects, one of the biggest considerations relate to access to floors and under floor openings, i.e. falling object prevention.  In the case of the office building, no one is allowed to work on a floor unless the deck above has been poured.  The amount of free space is limited and as materials and equipment move around, fire extinguishers sometimes get pushed behind items and need to be moved for better access.  Each structure has a monthly safety meeting that includes subcontractor safety professionals and superintendents to talk about safety concerns. There are monthly look ahead meetings that focus on planning for safety;  and walk throughs of the jobsite to identify and discuss any issues.

Q: Project site safety procedures are very evident on every KA jobsite; but how does the safety program address office employees’ safety?

JAY VANDER LEEST:  Like field employees, all office employees are oriented to KA upon hire.  The KA safety program is reviewed and our KA safety orientation video is viewed.  To date, the video has been viewed 709 times on line plus all the times it was viewed by DVD!  We also provide our office employees training during KA Safety Week – daily topics are reviewed with all office staff at each office location.  We cover topics such as ergonomics, stretching, back safety, hand injury prevention, general office safety, safety at home, etc.  Our annual KA Seminar is also a great way to provide training.  KAU training topics are also offered to all KA employees.