SAFETY CHAMPIONS UNITE

SMOHIT Safety Champions Conference brings SMACNA and SMART together for safety.

By / Jessica Kirby

© Can Stock Photo / huhulin

This year’s jointly funded SMOHIT Safety Champions Conference brought contractors and union representatives together online for a topic everyone can agree on—safety in the workplace.

SMART General President Joe Sellers, SMACNA President Angie Simon, and SMOHIT Administrator Randall Krocka gave opening remarks.

“In today’s marketplace, it is more important than ever for labor and management to work together identifying and solving safety issues on the jobsite,” Krocka says. “The SMOHIT Safety Champions Conference is the venue that has allowed those conversations to take place, initiating meaningful interaction as partners in construction. We are in this together with the goal of zero injuries and providing a productive workforce.”

Krocka also introduced the SMOHIT board of trustees, comprised of business managers and contractors with a shared interest and passion for safety and joint efforts toward ensuring everyone goes home safely at the end of the day.

SMOHIT trustee and Local 23 Business Manager Daniel Villarruel says he takes great pleasure furthering the safety culture within the sheet metal industry through SMOHIT.

“One of the biggest reasons the Safety Champions Conference is so important is that it showcases the safety culture of our members and contractors collectively by the way they communicate with one another, share ideas, and put safety programs into place,” Villarruel says.

At the 2021 conference, guest speakers covered a gamut of safety topics, demonstrating just how broad the realm of workplace safety is.

Mike Allen and Phillip Ragain presented on “Your Safety Legacy,” which asked leaders to consider what kind of safety legacy they want to leave behind, whether they are willing to accept “good enough,” and whether they are willing to accept life-changing injuries and fatalities.

Ragain also shared tips on changing behavior to change people and influence the safety culture in a workplace. He shared a tool for gauging leaders’ influence in setting the workplace culture and notions around safety.

Ben Cort—addiction, prevention, and treatment expert— and Chris Carlough—director of education with SMART— addressed the trends of legalized drugs, including marijuana and alcohol.

DID YOU KNOW?

Of nearly 43 million adult binge drinkers, 81% are employed full or part time. 16.5% of construction workers reported heavy alcohol consumption in the past month, more than twice the average of a full-time worker. 76% of illicit drug users are employed full or part time. Of all professions, construction workers are most likely to use opioids or cocaine.

They presented on the growing number of construction workers engaged in substance misuse, the national opioid crisis and how it relates to the construction industry, and the changing potency of marijuana since the 60s. They also presented options for those affected by substance use disorder.

“SMOHIT has been evaluating treatment centers across the United States for ensuring comprehensive treatment for substance use disorder and mental illness based on best practices, a willingness to partner with SMART/SMOHIT to meet the specific needs of members, and flexibility in how members pay for treatment,” Carlough says.

Raffi Elchammas—national manager, health and safety, for Milwaukee Tool—presented on personal protective equipment, leadership in health and safety, and head protection.

Elchammas reviewed PPE from Milwaukee Tool and urged users to choose the right head protection for the job.

“Employers are required to provide head protection when there is a danger from impact or from falling or flying objects or from electrical shock and burns,” Elchammas said. “Type 1 hard hats/helmets reduce the impact force from blows to the top of the head, and Type 2 reduce the impact force from blows to both the top and sides of the head. Be sure to have the correct form of head protection for the job.”

He also discussed tethering, gloves and glasses, and Milwaukee tool’s safety incentive program.

Scott Ketcham, director of construction, occupational safety and health administration (OSHA), looked at new OSHA leadership, the 50th anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, COVID-19, opioids and suicide in construction, a regulatory update, inspection and focus four statistics, national emphasis programs, national outreach events, and OSHA’s onsite consultation program.

With particular focus on COVID-19, OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP) operates with the goal of substantially reducing or eliminating worker exposures through a combination of inspection targeting, outreach to employers, and compliance assistance. The program’s focus is establishments that put the largest number of workers at serious risk of contracting the virus, and preventing retaliation against workers who complain about unsafe or unhealthful conditions or who exercise other rights.

Milwaukee Tool sponsored the event with door prizes, raffles, and financial support.

The conference acknowledged 2019 and 2020 Safety Design Winners, individuals who were successful in designing safety themed graphical elements for use in the workplace.

In 2018, construction workers suffered 7,840 head injuries and 23,520 lost work days due to head injuries. In the same year, 230 construction workers died due to head injuries.

2019 Winners:

• David Gauther, Local 206, San Diego • Joe Bernstein, Local 22, New Jersey • Patrick Edmonds Local 19, Central PA

2020 Winners:

• Steve Goolsby, Local 177, Nashville • Sharon Walker, Local 24, Ohio • Craig Wagner, Local 18, Wisconsin

Safety Matters Awards recognize local representatives and contractors who have gone above and beyond to develop and promote the safety culture in their organizations. Winners acknowledged at the Safety Champions Conference included the following Local and Chapter members:

Albert Blanco Jr, Local 359, Phoenix, Arizona, works toward developing a workforce culture of safety as a JATC instructor and created a bullying and harassment program to address this issue in the Local.

Paul Crist, Local 17, Buffalo, New York, created the Training Incentive Program (TIPS), which generated more than 16,000 safety trade related trainings with incentives for those who participate.

Jake Boulware, safety director at Total Mechanical, Pewaukee, Wisconsin, provided leadership and direction that resulted in the company meeting one million work hours without a lost time injury three times in less than a decade during 2011, 2014, and 2019.

Jamie DeVan, Southland Industries, Washington DC, led the division’s positive safety culture creating a sense of caring for one another through safety. Also, he worked with SMOHIT to create the “Life of a Duct” safety program.

In 2016, Mike Hilgert, Superior Duct Fabrication in Pomona, California, set out to place an emphasis on training, accountability, compliance, and employee buy-in to change the company’s safety culture. From guards on the press break to rewards and training programs, Hilgert led the company to double in size in the last four years while cutting its incident rates in half. Partners in Progress » August 2021 » 9

Jay Hansen at CJ Hansen Co. Inc. in Salem, Oregon, developed and implemented a Daily Pre-task Plan using a twopage document issued to all forepersons and lead journeypeople on all job sites during project kick-offs. Used daily, project data was collected to forecast material and labor needs, past, present, and future considerations, and captured a snapshot of safety on each specific project.

One of the 2020 Safety Matters Awards went to Rachel Brorson, safety and quality engineer at MG McGrath, Inc., in Minnesota. The safety record and the shift in safety culture over the last three large sports complex projects the company completed in Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and San Francisco illustrate the impact Brorson has made at MG McGrath. Employees worked over 98,000 hours with only one recordable incident. MG McGrath’s safety data shows a paradigm shift in safety culture through results-driven core values.

Ryder Hart, Local 399, has only been a journeyman for two years, but he is making a positive impact on the safety of apprentices at Local 399’s training center in North Charleston, South Carolina. New as an instructor, Hart took it upon himself to establish a safety culture at the training center, making sure that safety in the classroom and fabrication shop is maintained.

“It’s very important and beneficial for our members and our contractors to work together on safety as they try to achieve a 0% claims and increases productivity by making sure the safety measures are being followed,” Villarruel says.

“We can support each other by not retaliating on any member bringing up a safety concern which might be seen as trivial and by our members constantly being safety conscious of their work procedures and surroundings. What is needed is ʻus’ mentality, meaning that we work together as one.”

Prepare now to participate in next year’s event. The 7th Annual Safety Design Contest is now open for submissions to any member in good standing. Safety Matters Award nominations are also being accepted for training centers, organizations, contractors and deserving individuals who make outstanding contributions to expanding health and safety programs at the Local level for signatory sheet metal workers

Design submissions and award nominees are due December 31, 2021. Submit them by email to Randy Krocka at rkrocha@ smohit.org or by mail to:

3180 Fairview Park Drive Suite 400 Falls Church, Virginia 22042

SMOHIT chooses one honoree from each of the six regions: northeast, southeast, north central, south central, northwest, and southwest. ▪

“We can support each other by not retaliating on any member bringing up a safety concern which might be seen as trivial and by our members constantly being safety conscious of their work procedures and surroundings. What is needed is ‘us’ mentality, meaning that we work together as one.”

—SMOHIT trustee and Business Manager for Local 32 Daniel Villarruel

Jessica Kirby is a freelance editor and writer covering construction, architecture, mining, travel, and sustainable living for myriad publications across Canada and the United States. She can usually be found among piles of paper in her home office or exploring nature’s bounty in British Columbia’s incredible wilderness.