Only about four percent of Michigan's workforce is employed in construction - however, fatalities in the building trades account for more than 40 percent of all fatal workplace accidents.

Responsible contractors are always looking to improve safety on their job sites, but there can be different paths to that goal. Following are examples of two different approaches taken by construction employers that aren't necessarily new ideas, but that deserve recognition for continuing to try to make job sites safer.

Barton Malow, Skanska make their mark for safety

At the Troy Beaumont Hospital expansion, a "top-down" approach to safety is being initiated.

Barton Malow Company and Skanska USA Building Inc. are serving as the design/builder for the first phase of a three-phase expansion project for Beaumont Hospital, Troy. The expansion project includes an emergency center addition, a critical care tower, a comprehensive outpatient services center, and a professional office building.

The two big contractors are the latest to formally sign on to a partnership - the signing event took place Sept. 5 - with MIOSHA, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth and the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. The stated goal: "enhanced safety and health protection and zero injuries for workers."

"Barton Malow and Skanska are building a cutting edge healthcare facility - with the commitment to send every construction worker home healthy and whole, every day," said DLEG Director Keith Cooley. "We applaud these two premier companies who build world class facilities nationwide. This project is an outstanding example of the work we need to speed Michigan's economic growth."

To try to get to the zero injuries, Barton Malow/Skanska, the partnering trade unions and subcontractors endorsed the elements of the site specific Safety and Health Program for the Beaumont project. Elements include:

• Adherence to all safety policies, procedures, and MIOSHA standards.
• 100 percent fall protection over 6 feet, including steel erection and roof work.
• 00 percent eye protection.
• All crane operators will be Certified Crane Operators (CCO).
• Substance abuse testing through M.U.S.T. or equivalent program - adherence by all trade contractors.
• Pre-Task Safety Plans (PSPs) to be completed and submitted to Barton Malow/Skanska by contractors prior to beginning critical work.
• PSPs must be posted at the work area, and reviewed with workers prior to beginning work.
• Contractors shall provide a Competent and/or Qualified Person for work operations as identified by MIOSHA standards and/or Barton Malow/Skanska.
• Barton Malow/Skanska and the partnering employers on this project will uniformly enforce a disciplinary action plan for employees who fail to work in a safe manner. Rules call for "automatic dismissal" from this project for any "willful or deliberate" violation of safety rules or safety polices and procedures.

"The partnership that we're creating today can only help to further raise awareness about construction worker safety, and that's always a welcome goal," said Patrick Devlin, CEO of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. "Hopefully, in the long term, these kinds of partnerships will become the norm on jobsites across the state of Michigan."

This isn't the first such safety program - Walbridge-Aldinger was the first contractor in the state to sign such an agreement in January 2005 on a sewage overflow project in Dearborn. And Barton Malow signed on with Walbridge at the North Terminal project at Metro Airport in Romulus. With Skanska now aboard, it signals that the safety strategy may be ready to expand.

MIOSHA is pushing such partnerships in an effort to move away from traditional enforcement methods and embrace collaborative safety agreements.
"This joint venture between Barton Malow and Skanska brings together two great organizations with the same philosophy-zero tolerance for unsafe acts and conditions. Partnering with MIOSHA allows us to utilize all the team members in the pursuit of that goal," said Mark S. Klimbal, CSP, Corporate Safety Director, Barton Malow Co.

Said David Reece, Senior Vice President, Skanska USA Building Inc.: The agreement "affirms our commitment to having all workers go home to their families in the same condition they started the day."

Bristol Steel tries the incentive approach

"Rewards programs" are big with frequent flier miles and credit cards, and now Bristol Steel and Conveyor Corp. is trying such an approach in an effort to improve safety.

On select projects, at the end of each month that there are zero safety incidents, a prize drawing will take place for Bristol employees. The employee whose name is drawn will receive a new automatic shotgun, or a gift certificate for $400. If there are zero incidents at the end of the project there will be a drawing for a new ATV-four wheeler.

Bristol Steel initiated its "Safest Workplace Possible" program last spring, and has given away numerous cash prizes and shotguns through drawings on various projects. On Aug. 20 Bristol Steel celebrated zero unsafe incidents upon completion of the steel-work at the Gestamp US Hardtech project in Mason by holding a drawing for one of those new ATVs. The fortunate recipient: iron worker Brent Droscha of Local 25.

This isn't the first time a safety rewards program has been utilized - numerous Hardhats have been involved in such drawings on various jobsites for more than a decade. Nancy Forsyth, Bristol's director of safety/quality assurance, said experience in the industry has shown that the incentives work.

"On jobs where there are these kinds of drawings, worker safety improves and people are a lot more conscious about their surroundings," she said adding that Local 25 members' "safe working habits contributed to making this important project a success."

Ray Oliver, Chairman/CEO, Bristol Steel & Conveyor Corp. said "all the trade persons are true professionals. We look forward to working with Local 25 for many years to come."

IRON WORKERS at Gestamp US Hardtech job in Mason celebrate the topping off the project. The zero accident record for the crew led to a Bristol Steel holding a drawing for a new all-terrain vehicle.