Safety Topics

If you work in the engineering / construction field, you and your company should be taking safety very seriously. Many companies that I have worked with will start every meeting with a safety share. It’s a good time to discuss any negative trends that could be occurring on your project. It’s also a way to bring awareness to something that people have become complacent on. A safety share does not always have to be something negative. This time could be used to bring attention to a group or person that went above and beyond to make the jobsite safer.

Have you ever encountered an awkward silence when requesting someone present a safety share? I feel that everyone should always be prepared to share something.

Here are some ideas to be prepared:

• Bookmark the OSHA 29 CFR Part 1926 Safety and Health Regulations the OSHA on your phone. Pick a random topic and summarize / share the information. There are so many great options to pick from.

• Buy a paper copy of the OSHA 29 CFR Part 1926 Safety and Health Regulations. Here is an old copy that’s tabbed for quick references from when I took the Civil Engineering professional engineer exam.

• Spend some time looking through the OSHA Fatality or Severe Injury Database

  • Look for and present negative trends that are getting people seriously hurt or killed.

• Be prepared to summarize company safety procedures or guidelines. Bring attention to it and show people how they can access it or discuss it with their supervisor.

• Most projects will develop a project specific safety plan. Bring it to the meeting and discuss a topic.

• On one occasion, a manager asked me to put together a safety topic repository. I spent time looking for interesting safety topics and categorized them in folders on a company shared drive. The following were categories:

  • Day to Day Life (topics such as driving, pedestrian safety, bee stings, working at home, etc.)

  • Near Misses, Fatalities, & Environmental Occurrences

  • Company Specific Safety Standards

  • Handbooks, Government Organizations, and other practices

  • Other Companies (Could be in your line of work or another industry)

  • Caterpillar Toolbox Topic (https://www.cat.com/en_US/by-industry/construction-industry-resources/for-owners/toolbox-talks.html#accordion-80526c5a85-item-47a5e5978d-button)

  • Construction or Mining Specific Topics

In closing, I would like everyone associated with a capital project (from the most senior to the least experienced) to take the safety share seriously and always have a good safety topic to discuss. We shouldn’t always be calling on safety professionals to provide a great safety topic.  

Joe