What is Safety Week?
Construction Safety Week started in 2014 with 40 national and global construction firms from the Construction Industry Safety Initiative (CISI) group and the Incident and Injury Free (IIF) CEO Forum. The goal is to inspire everyone in the industry to be leaders in safety by sticking to the following guidelines:
• Thank workers for supporting safety and recognizing their efforts to be injury-free
• Increase awareness of the importance of being committed to safety, every day
• Encourage everyone to share best practices and to work together to strengthen the industry’s safety culture
• Conduct onsite safety awareness activities to support education
Safety Week aims to strengthen the industry’s safety culture and performance by sharing best practices, tools and resources.
Connected. Supported. Safe.
This year, the Construction Safety Week forum theme is “Connected. Supported. Safe.” Being connected gives workers a collective sense of strength because they are building a stronger, more robust, safer industry together. Supported means fellow colleagues are helping each other stay present and focused on the job, regardless of the role or workplace setting. It means the industry as a whole is equipped with the resources and support they need to work safely every day. Safety is a priority and obligation for all frontline workers. It is a shared responsibility to look after the well-being and safety of everyone on every jobsite, which empowers everyone to do their best work and return home safely every day.
Fall Protection: A Top Priority
The OSHA National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction will also be held during this same week, raising fall hazard awareness across the country to stop fall fatalities and injuries. Falls are the top cause of construction fatalities and account for one-third of on-the-job injury deaths in the industry. Each year in the U.S., more than 200 construction workers are killed, and over 10,000 are seriously injured by falls.
RK and HSE Department Promote Safety Week
RK, under the direction of the HSE Department, is participating in Construction Safety Week by focusing on fall prevention and onsite safety across all business units. The goal of this week is to build up awareness to prevent fall injuries from roofs, ladders and leading edges by
encouraging every RK employee to:
• PLAN ahead to get the job done safely.
• UTILIZE safety resources when planning.
• PROVIDE the right equipment.
• TRAIN everyone to use the equipment safely.
Construction Safety Week allows the industry to reengage workers to remember the importance of safety. Each year there is a theme or specific topic, however, safety must be practiced everyday. The Focus Four are four leading hazards in the construction industry: falls, caught in or between, struck by, or electrocution. Being trained and recognizing these hazards can help prevent work-related accidents and possible fatalities.
RK’s number one core value is safety and empowers employees to take responsibility for their safety and for those working alongside them. The company’s number one priority is always ZERO injuries.
RK is proud to be accredited as an OSHA VPP Star Worksite and OSHA VPP Star Mobile Workforce, ranking in the 0.03% of U.S. companies with VPP certification at any level and as the 53rd U.S. company to earn Star Mobile Workforce status.
Written by Ileana Morales
Connected.Supported.Safe., accessed April 28, 2022, Construction Safety Week
Construction Focus Four Training, accessed April 28, 2022, OSHA
National Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction, accessed April 28, 2022, OSHA
Voluntary Protection Programs, accessed April 28, 2022, OSHA
By: RK
Safety Week is a perfect opportunity to remind skilled tradespeople how important it is to be cautious when working at heights, one misstep can quickly turn into a deadly mistake. Construction workers face many hour-to-hour physical challenges on jobsites, and these tips can help to get you home to your families safe and sound.
Training is Key
Training employees on height safety is not only required by law, but lack of training can cause confusion and errors on jobsites. Falls are the leading cause of death on construction sites. Creating an environment where open dialogue is welcome and training is a primary focus may prevent employees from making life-altering mistakes. Additionally, ensure employees are briefed daily on height safety and any weather or additional worksite challenges they may face when in the field.
Use OSHA’s Hierarchy of Controls
Eliminate the hazard. If the piece of equipment or material you are working on is at heights, the hazard can be eliminated by moving the project ground level.
Substitution replaces any jobsite hazard that may put your health or the health of your coworkers at risk.
Engineering Controls (barricades, guardrails, etc.) should be installed and inspected on a regular basis. If for some reason the appropriate protections are not in place in areas where they are needed, report the issue to your supervisor.
Administrative Controls (signs, warning labels, etc.) change the way people work by visually reminding them of dangerous areas.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (gloves, glasses, etc.) are effective if used properly, but PPE is the least effective way of controlling hazards at heights. When working on elevated job sites, there is always a high potential of damage that can make the PPE ineffective.
Select and Inspect PPE
Personal protective equipment should always be worn on jobsites whether working on the ground or at elevated areas. Wearing ill-fitting, damaged or old protective gear while working can place your life at risk. Make sure you inspect your fall protection gear before each use and other PPE every morning before working. Thoroughly understand the proper protocol when you find an issue with your equipment and have a competent person inspect your gear to ensure it meets safety guidelines before heading to your section for the day.
Use Ladders Properly
For most of us, ladders are a familiar tool we use on the job and at home, but making the assumption that they can’t be dangerous because you’ve cleaned your gutters is a massive mistake. Ensuring that you know how to use a ladder properly is essential. Be certain never to use the top two rungs of a ladder and always keep your belt buckle between the vertical rails of the ladder. Also, make certain all debris and materials are not gathering at the bottom of the workspace; unnecessary rubble can cause additional accidents.
Know Fall Distance
OSHA standards require that workers “must have sufficient strength to withstand twice the potential impact energy of a worker free falling a distance of six feet or the free fall distance permitted by the system, whichever is less.” All anchorage points must also be able to withstand 5,000 pounds of force when subjected to a fall. If you’re unsure of the proper fall protection equipment to use, check with your supervisor immediately.
Staying safe when working at heights requires proper gear and more importantly paying attention to your surroundings. If at any time you feel unsafe, safely remove yourself from the location and use your “stop work authority” until the issues are resolved. Remember, you aren’t staying safe just because you were directed to do so, we also want you to get home to your family intact. These are just a few guidelines to keep you safe on jobsites, but you can find additional information here.
By: RK Mechanical
After the recent OSHA VPP audit on November 14th, RK was thrilled to be recommended for the OSHA VPP Star, OSHA’s highest award for world-class safety and health! During the three day audit, conducted by two OSHA auditors and a special government employee from Raytheon, 35 different employees were interviewed and after the evaluations were complete, RK received the a recommendation for the designation that less than 0.03% of companies in the entire nation receive. That means that only 62 contracting companies in the U.S. and three in Colorado are designated with this esteemed rating!
So, what does this mean?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recognizes the value of co-operative efforts by employers, employees, and government agencies to reduce hazards and strengthen worker protection. Created in 1982, The Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) recognize employers and employees who have established effective safety and health management programs. The VPP program has been particularly successful in increasing safety in many different industries, including construction, poultry processing, petrochemical plants, tree nurseries, nursing homes, federal laboratories, and even “mom and pop” operations.
The OSHA audit itself, a two-phased, on-site evaluation, is highly complex and painstakingly done. In the first phase, OSHA’s team reviews the applicant’s corporate, division or business unit policies and procedures, including a review of safety and health management programs, document review and assessment of the management commitment to safety and health, and to VPP itself.
The intense road to Star status was been an intense one that took a while. “Shortly after achieving our OSHA VPP Star Mobile Work Force accreditation for the field, we asked the shop employees if they wanted to achieve this for the shops as well. The resounding response was yes,” said JP Kennel, Operations Manager for the Xanthia facility. “We began preparation, but along the way, we found that many of the things we already did were [already in place to satisfy] the OSHA VPP Star requirements. We still had to make numerous tweaks to our processes and procedures, though, and we learned a lot about ourselves [in the process]. Stepping back and critically looking at ourselves [allowed us to see] that we were lacking in mitigating possible hazards to our employees. These were the areas we focused on, making great strides in providing a safer and healthier work environment.”
Lindsay Kalis, QSE Systems Manager and main OSHA contact for RK, was the one behind the implementation of the safety management system, and was responsible for everything from application to scheduling while the OSHA team was on-site.
Kalis elaborated on what the audit consisted of while the OSHA team was at RK. “There are two types of VPP certification – Mobile Workforce and Worksite. This audit was for the Xanthia location (the Worksite designation) and Henderson will have theirs next.” Kalis explained that the application for the Xanthia audit was originally submitted in January 2013, but it took a year and a half to get the audit done.
Typically, it takes three months for the application to go through, but in light of the government shutdown and budget restrictions, it took much longer than was originally expected. Along with Kalis, Tom Alvarez, RK’s Manager of Safety, was also instrumental in assisting the OSHA auditors find all of the information they needed.
The second phase is dedicated to reviewing one or more worksites in order to verify that the safety and health management programs are actually functioning outside of the home office, which will take place when the Henderson site is audited.
The Star designation is specifically designed for “exemplary worksites that have implemented comprehensive, successful safety and health management systems; and achieved illness/injury rates below their industry’s national average”. “Our recommendation for the Star Level clearly demonstrates our commitment to the safety of all our team and the passion we have with regard to being a World Class company,” said Ian Welsh, Vice President of Corporate Development.
Not only is this a great boon for the company, but it also helps to enrich the lives of RK workers on a personal level as well. JP Kennel said it best. “Safety and health has to be a part of what we do every day. In order for that to happen, the rules and regulations have to be backed from the officer level on down. That way, the employee truly knows they have the power to communicate when they see an unsafe situation, but more importantly, they know that the company truly cares about them and their family.”