Fatalities in the landscaping industry have workplace safety officials and employers concerned. In Florida, the number of workers who died on the job has nearly tripled since 2012. A collaborative effort is underway to help workers better understand the hazards they face, and how to work more safely.
At the Safety Stand-Downs, employers stopped work voluntarily and conducted safety training on injury prevention with workers at risk of falls and being crushed or hit by objects – two leading causes of industry deaths. They also focused on electrical hazards, another common injury risk.
“We are confident that, with the proper knowledge, workers can avoid unnecessary injuries or worse, and return home at the end of each work day. Failing to develop, implement and maintain an effective safety and health program puts workers at risk of being injured on the job,” said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA’s regional administrator for the Southeast.
What is a Stand Down?
Construction companies who know the value of safety training use a Safety Stand Down to stop all work and provide a focused safety toolbox talk meeting on all their jobsites, on one day, at the same time, on one particular topic. This meeting provides effective communication of safety policies, goals and expectations to all levels of a construction team and workplace employees.
While stand downs are commonly used in the military, they are not new to the construction industry. Fellow AGC chapters across America regularly organize them for their contractor members and many national contractors also include these in their safety program.
AGC Georgia and Stand Down partners, OSHA and CompTrust AGC Mutual Captive Insurance Company (MCIC) believe there is tremendous value in committing 5 minutes to one hour of your day's work to talk about safety, leading to increased employee safety morale. Stopping to talk about safety brings it to the forefront of everyone's mind! It is very important to communicate your firm's safety message to front line workers who constitute the largest group of our industry's workforce.
AGC Georgia Inc., OSHA and employers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi organized the effort.
