Dallas — Safety Week is an annual event during May that has gained national participation among general and specialty contractors, including Dallas-based TDIndustries. The large mechanical contractor and facilities services company participates by having daily conversations about safety with the firm’s 1,434 field personnel and service technicians, according to Jamie Dabbs, senior safety manager at TDIndustries.
“With several thousand service and construction projects underway throughout the Southwest region, safety training and jobsite safety are our priorities year-round. We use Safety Week as a way to get some buzz going and to remind our teams that their actions and behaviors do matter on every job, no matter how large or small,” says Dabbs.
“Safety Week is about safety conversation and engagement,” says Dabbs. “Every employee (called Partners) will participate in a documented safety inspection of their work locations. They will also use a pledge card to express ideas for creating a safer workplace and then pledge to implement those ideas.” In addition to the site-related safety inspections and pledge cards, the company plans to conduct a fall protection stand down and host safety culture discussions with specific exercises as part of the week’s activities.
Top 4 Safety Steps
According to Dabbs, there are 4 things that can help elevate safety performance of teams:
1. Clearly define safety processes – Designing detailed processes is essential but they must be easy to follow so every employee has a clear understanding of expectations.
2. Involve subject matter experts – Using experts for safety policy and procedures design ensures better policy development and compliance, as does soliciting diverse opinions from the workers installing the products and internal safety committees to identify areas of concern.
3. Set clear safety expectations and requirements for all job functions. Keeping everyone engaged continuously in the process is important. Understanding the role each individual plays in maintaining safe conditions is equally important. Setting expectations early. Continuously improving conditions and awareness helps raise the bar for safety, according to Dabbs.
4. Leadership commitment and accountability. Total commitment from the leadership team is critical to the success of any safety initiative. That includes all field leadership as well as business leaders. It is important that every employee is encouraged and supported to be accountable for his or her safety and is supported throughout the company in this effort.
TD’s Safety Programs
TDIndustries takes safety training seriously. In addition to bilingual safety training, the company provides an average of 28 hours of training per Partner annually. Among the courses offered:
- Adult CPR –First Aid- AED
- Back Hoe / Track Hoe Operator Training
- Boom Lift – Scissor Lift Operator Training
- Back Injury Prevention Training
- Confined Space Awareness- Entry- Rescue Training
- Duct Jack and Roust About Operator Training
- Energized Electrical Work
- Lock Out Tag Out
- Excavation Competent Person
- Fall Protection
- Ladder Safety
- Fork Lift Operator Training
- Gantry Crane Operator Training
- Hazardous Communications with GHS
- Hearing Protection
- Personal Protective Equipment
- Hot Work
- Rigging and Signal Person Training
- Pre-Task Safety Planning
- Respirator User Training
- Scaffold User and Scaffold Competent Person Training
- Skid Steer / Bobcat Operator Training
- Smith System Driver Training, and others.
Safety Results?
TDIndustries is a leader in safety training and safety results. For the past five years, the company has maintained an incident record of 2.64, one of the best in the industry.
The award-winning, employee-owned firm was recently named the first place winner of the Willis Construction Safety Excellence Award in the Over 1 Million Work Hour specialty division. The award competition, which was sponsored by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America, recognized TDIndustries’ guidance in safety and occupation health management, risk control, safety training, work site hazard identification and control and safety program.
How does TDIndustries achieve these results? According to Dabbs, “We provide positive reinforcement when observing safe behaviors and publicly recognize a person for his or her efforts. We praise outstanding actions quickly using our TD Facebook page, our internal communication site called the “Pipeline” and during our regular team meetings. These sites are available to any Partner with a smart phone. These “shout-outs” really motivate everyone to do their best and to look out for each other on the jobsite.” “TDIndustries is only one of twelve companies to be on Fortune Magazine’s, 100 Best Places to Work, every year since the list’s inception. Being a Great Place to Work supports our value of safety for every Partner.”
TDIndustries delivers a comprehensive approach to mechanical construction and facilities service. TD partners with clients across the entire life-cycle of a facility from engineering and construction to operations and maintenance. For 69 years, TDIndustries has provided innovative engineering, construction and facilities management services that optimize the performance of world-class mechanical systems which service healthcare facilities, hotels, schools, sports arenas, mission critical and industrial complexes. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, TDIndustries has offices in Austin, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Weslaco and Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more at www.TDIndustries.com.
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