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FRED RIDEOUT, CSP, ARM, is the corporate risk manager for C. R. Meyer and Sons Co. He has 22 years of risk management, safety training, and safety direction experience that is backed by a B.S. degree in education and a M.S. degree in occupational safety and health.
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CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Contractor safety policies save money
No matter how sterling a mill's safety record is or how many dollars mill managers pump into a safety program, worker's compensation claims may still cost a mill more money than they should. For example, when purchasing construction, a mill also purchases its share of a contractor's worker's compensation premium. Consequently, the cost of the contractor's expense is passed along in mill construction costs.
Realizing that the selection of a contractor with a strong safety record can reduce construction costs, what should a mill look for in a construction professional? This column addresses important contractor safety policies.
EMPLOYEE SELECTION POLICY. Contractors with an employee selection policy that includes pre-qualifications for hiringÑexperience, skill, attitude, and safety knowledgeÑare able to hire the best employees. Unfortunately, due to available labor pools and to union labor hiring practices, contractors do not always have ultimate control over the hiring of their "pool employees." They do, however, have control over selection and development of their "core employees," and authority over the orientation, training, and supervision of all employees.
"Core" employees are those workers a contractor recognizes for many superior work qualities, including safety practices. By mixing "core" and "pool" employees, a contractor is able to guide the safety practices, and other qualifications, of "pool" employees. The leadership and knowledge provided by "core" employees will develop a more aware field force, therefore aiding safety consciousness.
ORIENTATION AND TRAINING. Commitment to safety orientation and training provides the foundation for a strong safety culture and is necessary to reduce worker's compensation costs. Also, employee orientation establishes contractor expectations. It is designed to inform all new hires about required safe work practices, personal protective equipment requirements, tool/equipment requirements, and behavior expectations.
Training is the next step. It deals with more specific work issues and loss exposures. At a minimum, the training curriculum must deal with fall protection, and prevention from being struck, crushed, and electrocuted. Other topics that are important to a worker are respiratory protection, rigging, material handling, and other activities specific to potential loss exposure.
An effective training program will promote a strong safety culture by teaching and repeating expected safety behaviors on a continuous basis. Repetitive training promotes retention of learned behavioral concepts. Subsequently, accidents should be less frequent and exposure to loss should be minimized. Reduced claim frequency results in less probability toward claim severity. As a consequence, worker's compensation claims are reduced and construction costs should follow.
FIELD CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISION. Effective supervision is key to a successful safety program and reducing claims. Success is directly proportional to enforcement of safety rules and regulations and correction of unsafe acts and conditions.
To give superintendents the continuing education they need in order to guide a construction professional's safety initiative, topics should include safety rules, enforcement of rules, anticipating risks, employee training and instruction, communication, leadership, onsite safety meetings, and the investigation of accidents and near-misses.
RETURN-TO-WORK (RTW) POLICY. Effective worker's compensation management relies on preventing injury, but the way in which a contractor returns an injured employee to work has a significant effect as well. An effective RTW program enhances individual employee rehabilitation and facilitates the employee's return to work following a work-related injury. A transition program is placed in effect until the employee resumes customary and usual duties. An RTW policy minimizes claim costs by getting a worker back to perform modified work or effectively accommodate a worker's special requirements until the employee is back to full work status.
Commitment to the communication process at the early stages following an accident may save a construction professional and a mill hundreds or thousands of dollars per incident. A Job Description Analysis, conducted by all involved parties, can be effective in determining the types of functions an injured employee can perform. Subsequently, tasks can be sought out to fit the employees capabilities during recovery.
Communications protocol should be established before any accident occurs. One example is a physician's form that is sent with an injured employee for the initial doctor visit. The physician outlines symptoms and physical limitations. This planning allows a worker to return to work the next day, or even the same day.
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