When it comes to construction sites, safety might seem like an obvious priority. Your run-of-the-mill construction zone is riddled with possible hazards–there is typically massive equipment in use, unstable and unpredictable terrain, heavy objects being moved (often overhead), and tasks that involve a certain level of physical risk involved to complete.
And those are just a handful of possible dangers on any given day.
Every construction company MUST value safety above all else because lives are in danger. Creating solid safety protocols and maintaining checklists is the bare minimum. While lists and procedures serve an important role in ensuring workers follow standard operating protocols and don’t overlook critical safety steps, checking boxes is far from sufficient for creating a truly safe working environment.
At Raby Construction, we focus more intently on infusing safety into our culture. Safety is the top priority inserted into every aspect of our operations and embraced by every single employee and contractor.
When safety is part of a culture like it is at Raby, team members are proactive about mitigating hazards and take on personal responsibility for themselves and each other. Building this kind of culture requires sustained efforts around training, accountability, leadership reinforcement, and celebrating successes. It involves giving workers a voice in safety processes, analyzing near misses and incidents to identify root causes, and continually re-evaluating policies and being willing to adapt based on learnings.
It’s a top-down and bottom-up unification around an embedded safety mindset beyond just checking rote requirement boxes.
Here are some examples of how we infuse safety into our culture at Raby Construction:
- Leadership Engagement
Our leaders visibly lead by example and accountability for safety. We consistently prioritize safety over production pressures and engage with our frontline workers continually to understand and address safety concerns. - A Legacy of Excellence: The Raby Standard
A company doesn’t thrive for nearly three decades when safety isn’t a core value. Many of our key leaders have incredible longevity, proving that they feel valued and know how to value their team members. When it comes to construction, feeling safe at work is essential. - Team Empowerment
We encourage our team members to have an open dialogue with our leadership team and rapidly respond to any concerns or suggestions from our teams in the field. - PPE that Looks and Feels Good
We work hard to make sure our team members are outfitted in Personal Protective Equipment that will keep them safe while also fitting comfortably and sporting the Raby brand. We listen to our team members on feedback regarding fit, comfort, and durability of our gear. It’s easier to wear what keeps you safe when it is comfortable! - Training and Education
We go beyond basic compliance training to provide real life examples of hazards we have mitigated in the past and shine a light on team members who kept themselves and others safe. - Recognition
A safe team is a winning team. We take the time to recognize leaders at Raby who showcased their dedication to safety as a part of our culture and not just to check a box on a list. - Continuous Improvement
We regularly reevaluate our safety processes, policies, training, and so on based on performance and team member feedback. A safety culture embraces change to elevate our processes over time.
Checklists are certainly valuable tools, but they represent the most basic levels of safety-conscious environment. At Raby, our holistic safety-first commitment is what separates world-class construction safety from companies merely going through the motions on paper.
Our people are our number one priority, so it’s important we protect them. For us, safety isn’t one of the tools in our toolbelt. It is the blueprint we live by.