Partners in Safety

By / Jessica Kirby

SMACNA Detroit and Local 80 include BE4ALL education in the Ready to Work Safety Program

In December 2015, SMACNA Detroit and Local 80 partnered to develop the Ready to Work (RTW) Safety Program, a stateof-the-art safety program that benefits both contractors and union members.

The RTW program is both a database and awareness program. The RTW database is a customized web-based system specific to the sheet metal industry for both union craftspersons and contractors. Workers access the database to complete safety modules and view their complete history of safety and training credentials, and contractors use the database to view these credentials. In addition, RTW program language provides annual incentives for Local 80 workers who maintain a certain level of safety and training credentials.

“This program helps contractors capture jobs as owner requirements and safety standards continue to become mandatory in bid documents,” says Charlene Zezawa, administrator with SMACNA Detroit.

Using this data, an employer can research potential new hires based on what safety training or worksite credentials are needed for the jobsite.

“Our system is like a walking resume for the sheet metal worker,” says SMACNA Detroit Executive Director Mark Saba. “It provides training and records information that is relevant within our industry, specific to that worker and SMACNA Detroit employers.”

“The Ready to Work Program enables our union to be safety pro-active,” says Local 80 Business Manager Tim Mulligan. “Not only does it establish specific safety practices, but also the program creates an opportunity to further promote our longstanding tradition of well-trained union members employed by highly qualified contractors.”

Another aspect of the RTW database system is data integration of existing sources to create a collaborative product. For example, the RTW system uploads for user viewing substance testing and general safety training maintained by a longstanding Michigan construction industry standard database called MUST (Management and Unions Serving Together). The MUST system is overseen by a board of Michigan labor and management representatives who work to promote the safety and substance testing database and the unionized construction industry to owners and the general public through career awareness programs.

This year, Local 80 and SMACNA Detroit turned their attention to BE4ALL, a jointly funded SMACNA and SMART diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiative, and they decided to help promote the program.

Their partnership recognized RTW as a platform for promoting BE4ALL among the union membership and employers. “Together, labor and management developed a multiple-choice quiz that highlighted important aspects of the BE4ALL program and incorporated this within specific RTW requirements,” Zezawa says. “RTW incentive participants were required to complete a 10-question quiz that reiterated BE4ALL material found on the SMART website.”

“We can appreciate the way local chapters and unions can help raise awareness and felt we had a good match to be able to assist with SMART’s and SMACNA’s BE4ALL efforts,” Mulligan adds.

Promoting BE4ALL and the RTW program aren’t the only initiatives SMACNA Detroit and Local 80 have tackled together. A few years ago, the two organizations participated in a partnership agreement with Ford Motor Company to implement RTW safety training that was specific to Ford’s construction site concerns.

“One of the big concerns Ford Motor Company had on jobsites was ‘struck by and caught between’ incidents,” Saba says. “So, we decided to incorporate the Ford safety training requirements right into our RTW program. We worked together with Ford Land safety personnel and produced our own module available for all Local 80 workers to complete.”

Ford Motor Company was very pleased with the outcome and collaboration, which was ultimately still specific to the sheet metal industry.

SMACNA Detroit and Local 80 also worked with several Michigan-based general contractors to produce a sheet metal trade-specific silica awareness module in complement to the Michigan Occupational Health and Safety Administration heightened silica protection requirements.

This was another win for the RTW program because as the general contractors were updating their silica awareness standards, SMACNA Detroit and Local 80 were helping capture new safety measures contractors and workers would experience on the jobsites. “Here, we discussed with several prominent general contracting companies their silica awareness procedures and incorporated them into our training,” Mulligan says. “Again, the GCs were appreciative of our joint efforts for the goal of keeping workers safe, together.”

While many industry programs and services were postponed or transitioned into virtual platforms during 2020, SMACNA Detroit and Local 80 used this time to further extend the RTW program technically by developing a RTW smartphone app, available for Local 80 workers through Apple and Android.

Workers can use the app to access the list of their accomplished training certifications, view RTW modules, and receive assistance accomplishing annual incentive requirements with quick access to support. It also includes a SMACNA Detroit contractor directory, personal work log and—coming soon— welding continuity tracking.

“Although the union membership has responded fairly well to RTW, it can be difficult to get the long timers in the field engaged,” Mulligan says. “We have been able to engage the apprentices right at the starting gate of their graduation because of their high involvement with the training center and union hall.”

Although Local 80 discusses the program at the union hall meetings and posts material in the trade paper, “Contractor promotion is also very important, especially to those field craftspersons who are under the care of the employer,” Mulligan says.

Together, management and labor in metro Detroit continue to work to keep promoting and developing engagement, starting with acknowledging their shared role in building the sheet metal industry’s future for all.

For instance, a market recovery program instituted by SMACNA Detroit and Local 80 establishes cost-effective programs for signatory contractors by developing strategies to secure hours and increase market share within the construction industry. “We work with SMACNA Detroit just about daily to help gain work for the contractors for the betterment of their companies and our members,” Mulligan says. The partnership even overextends training with collaborations to provide communication and transition training for their foreperson and apprenticeship workforce.

In addition to organizational programs, the partnership has joined to work on important community-based initiatives. “As partners, we’ve been better equipped to make charity donations that involved sending lunches to hospitals during COVID, renovating non-profit shelters, and providing equipment and workforce to build new homes for health and welfare-based organizations in the Southeast Michigan area,” Mulligan says.

“A mutually respected relationship with between labor and management is key to SMACNA Detroit and Local 80’s success,” Saba says. “A strong partnership broadens the scope of initiatives contractors and their workforce can take on. Respect and purpose are important for our future and the members we both care for.” ▪

Jessica Kirby is editor-publisher for Point One Media, a small but sturdy family-owned trade magazine creator representing some of North America’s best construction associations. She can usually be found among piles of paper in her home office or exploring British Columbia’s incredible wilderness.

By / Jessica Kirby | Photos: SMACNA Detroit