Safety In Numbers By / Natalie Bruckner
While considered one of the safest of the skilled trades out there, accidents in the sheet metal industry happen. According to the latest Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (which considers the total number of incidents and the total hours worked by all employees within one year), the average incident rate in the sheet metal industry of 1.91 was the lowest reported rate in the lifespan of the survey. But for SMART Locals and SMACNA contractors, that just won’t cut it. Together, they are on a mission to get to zero, or as close to that as possible. One way they are doing that is by changing attitudes when it comes to safety. In the past, the construction industry has been prone to the blame game, because when something goes wrong, the finger tends to be pointed. However, a deep set of new research has shown that the name, blame, and shame game is both corrosive and counterproductive. “As an industry, the sheet metal labor and management understand that we have to change with the times,” says Michael Mooney, president and business manager at Local 18 in Wisconsin. “If we want to be the industry of choice, we have to have one leg up on our competition. One area we can do that is in safety and how we communicate it. Safety is one topic where we truly unite. We all want people to go home safe at the end of the day.” 6 » Partners in Progress » www.pinp.org
SMACNA Wisconsin contractor JF Ahern is not just raising the bar when it comes to safety training, but also setting a brand new standard in the approach. Explains Matt Van Der Puy, business representative at Local 18 who previously worked at Ahern, “They are way ahead of the curve.”
A little over a year ago, Ahern introduced a new interactive training initiative called Hidden Hazards. Its goal is to create an increased focus on preventing similar events from recurring and avoiding those incidents with a high potential to result in serious injuries and fatalities. Unique in its approach, the team behind Hidden Hazards looked to Netflix (among other steaming services) for tips on how to draw viewers in. From there, they built a training series that included deep dive interviews with employees, live polling/ chat to ask questions and encourage further interactivity, and learning videos. This meant that when COVID hit, the training could proceed “business as usual.” “Our philosophy at JF Ahern is about being systematic in everything we do, and that includes our safety programs,” explains Dustin Rusch, chief safety officer at Ahern. “Hidden Hazards came about as a result of a lot of learning and proactive data analysis from being in business for 140 years. We have always been keen on gaining more insights from incidents and really focusing on that learning.”
