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A Pledge to Safety
PHOTO: ANDROMEDA PUBLISHERS
“If I cannot do my job safely, then I will not do it at all," is the pledge we take for our loved ones,” says Jake Toth, CHST, (right), Director, Andromeda Academy of Construction Trades, as he asks the crew to show a photo of what they care most, during Safety Week 2022.
Construction Safety Week and National Safety Stand-Down To Prevent Falls in Construction (May 2-6, 2022) are two annual events honored by every member in our group of professionals.
We continue to invest in our safety culture and performance by sharing best practices, tools, and resources while we remain focused on the impact our safe choices have on our team members, their families, and the communities in which we live and work. During the week-long event, we visited job sites and had safety talks with the crews, where we distributed pledge cards asking the workers to add their name and the name of a loved one on a pledge to safety.
They keep these cards in a prominent place in their homes. A reminder that they are loved and love enough to work safely.
Construction Safety Week started in 2014 when more than 40 national and global construction firms which comprised the Construction Industry Safety Initiative (CISI) group and the Incident and Injury Free (IIF) CEO Forum joined forces with a single aim: to inspire everyone in the industry to be leaders in safety. In 2018, Safety Week was registered as a 501(c)6.
A Safety Stand-Down is a voluntary event for employers to talk directly to employees about safety. Any workplace can hold a stand-down by taking a break to focus on "Fall Hazards" and reinforcing the importance of "Fall Prevention". Employers of companies not exposed to fall hazards, can also use this opportunity to have a conversation with employees about the other job hazards they face, protective methods, and the company's safety policies and goals. It can also be an opportunity for employees to talk to management about fall and other job hazards they see.
DOB RELEASES CONSTRUCTION SAFETY REPORT FOR 2021
In its second annual Construction Safety Report released on March 28, 2022, the New York City Department of Buildings provides an analysis of safety trends in the five boroughs over the 2021 calendar year.
“We are publishing a comprehensive report on building construction safety, so we can better track incidents and understand why they occur. Data analysis like this is a critical part of our strategy to help our industry partners properly safeguard their work sites,” said Constadino "Gus" Sirakis, P.E., Acting Commissioner at the time of the report release.
In 2021 there was an increase in new development projects in NYC compared to 2020, including more total permits issued, more initial permits issued, more proposed dwelling units, and more new construction floor area. The report shows that for the third year in a row, building construction-related incidents have declined in NYC, even as construction activity has rebounded from a pandemicrelated low in 2020.
The report also highlights the nine tragic fatal construction worker incidents that occurred on building work sites across the five boroughs, as well as initiatives launched by the DOB to enhance work site safety and protect the public.
