11 Reasons to Hire an Energy Consultant

Costs are a growing concern in our inflationary economy, especially in the construction industry.

As building costs continue to rise, the demand for bigger homes does as well. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the average size of a new single-family home is 2,561 sq. ft.

However, recent interest rate hikes have pressured builders to cut costs to reduce their final price tags. One massive opportunity for improvement to reduce the cost of construction and increase the value of a finished property is in the energy space.

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7 Ways to Improve Your Construction Safety Culture

Improved construction safety management and culture minimize the risk of worksite accidents and improve worker output. According to The National Safety Council (NSC), $163.9 billion in liabilities was paid out to workplace accidents in 2020. 

On the other hand, prioritizing workplace safety culture benefits employees by protecting their health and promoting inclusivity. 

As a result, making safety a core component of your worksite culture will improve the overall efficiency of your organization.

In this article, you will learn all of the benefits of construction safety culture and seven concrete steps to improve your construction safety culture. 

 

Benefits of Construction Safety Culture

 

Safety is an obvious concern that we take for granted in our day-to-day lives. However, construction safety culture goes beyond minimizing liability and saving money. 

According to OSHA, workplace safety culture is “the atmosphere created by (a shared set of) beliefs, attitudes, etc., which shapes our behavior.” Under this umbrella term, construction safety culture impacts every aspect of your worksite, from how you communicate with employees to how each holds the other accountable. 

As such, the benefits of improving construction safety culture will include:

  • Reduced liability from a workplace injury
  • Reduced damage to equipment and vehicles
  • Improved worker output by reducing downtime
  • Incentivizing higher worker engagement 
  • Improved communication across the organization
  • The creation of new leadership positions to empower fellow employees
  • Increased organizational transparency
  • Reduced employee turnover

However, achieving these goals is simply more than investing in more training materials. Improving workplace output and safety means creating a better culture. 

7 Ways to Improve Construction Safety Culture

 

1. Work with a Consultant to Develop Best Practices

Often, developers need to be made aware of the number of workplace risks that exist, which makes creating a construction safety plan and promoting a positive culture incredibly difficult. However, a construction safety consultant can work with you to identify risks on your worksite and implement best practices that help promote positive cultural change at your worksite. 

Some changes include developing new training materials and workplace incentives to engage employees. 

The earlier you work with a consultant, the more risks you’ll be able to identify and overcome.  

2. Create Incentives for Training

Part of creating a successful workplace culture in any corporate setting is receiving appropriate “buy-in” from your employees. As most employees will tell you, safety is not always a 24/7 concern for them, and their eyes tend to gloss over each time you set them in front of a training video. 

However, creating financial and organizational incentives for completing additional safety courses can improve employee “buy-in” and make them more engaged during the training process. 

3. Improve Workplace Accountability

“Buy-in” will be virtually impossible if employees are not held accountable for committing poor or improper actions on the worksite that leave them and their peers liable to harm. Furthermore, a lack of accountability reinforces bad habits, as no one is there to correct them before they become muscle memory. 

Clearly define safety rules and empower employees to speak up when another one violates these rules. Remind employees that any consequences they suffer are only meant to reinforce positive actions and improve workplace safety. 

4. Conduct Period Onsite Inspections

Another way to curb bad habits is to conduct daily onsite inspections with worksite leaders to ensure all personal protective equipment (PPE) is being used and best practices are being followed. 

In addition, encourage employees to inspect equipment before use, and create daily procedures for inspections that ensure worksite conditions are always safe. 

5. Make Employee Health a Top Priority

On the flip side, if you want to cultivate greater employee “buy-in,” you need to communicate the benefits of construction safety culture to them. 

While we tend to focus more on hazard controls, implementing policies to prevent soft tissue injuries, heat strokes, and other avoidable forms of injuries can go a long way in reducing your liability and improving output. 

Likewise, make mental health a focus by creating safe spaces for employees to communicate with one another and find ways to reduce stress on the job site. 

6. Learn to Navigate Language Barriers

Create a more inclusive workforce by navigating around language barriers to reinforce these same safety principles to foreign language speakers. 

According to one survey, the construction industry faces the largest gap between skilled laborers who speak another primary language and contractors able to communicate with them effectively. 

There are several ways to navigate language barriers, whether Spanish-speaking trades or any language, to communicate your goals and beliefs uniformly.

7. Designate Specific Safety Leaders

Finally, you can create additional oversight by creating specific roles at your company devoted to promoting worksite safety. These added roles can come with additional pay and benefits, or be their own positions, depending on the size of your company. 

Either way, tasking leaders in your company with focusing on construction safety will help your track and reach your goals faster. 

We often hear about the importance of promoting safety as a core cultural component of any worksite. However, construction safety culture is more than just reducing the risk of injury. While important, construction safety culture also prioritizes communication, employee engagement, and inclusivity.

By following these seven simple steps, you can improve your construction safety culture and the overall culture of your worksite.

Combatting Heat Stress on the Worksite | 9 Prevention Tips

While deaths from heat stress remain thankfully low in the US, a total of 43 work-related deaths in 2019 occurred because of heat exposure. 

Combating heat stress and other environmental risks is important in promoting worker safety. 

It’s no secret that construction and industrial jobs may be at a greater risk for heat stress during the summer because they work outside.  

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EPA 2022 Construction General Permit Update: What to Know

Construction sites can be a massive source of pollutants and toxins that may leave public water sources vulnerable to pollution if not properly managed.

As a result, the EPA requires many construction sites to implement proper BMPs, such as developing a stormwater management plan and controls at discharge points to regulate the discharge of pollutant materials from a work site.

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5 Benefits of a Quality Assurance Inspection to Improve Construction

Quality Assurance (QA) is an essential aspect of any construction planning process. 

While most construction managers are familiar with quality control (QC), quality assurance is the active management and implementation of best practices throughout the construction process to ensure that projects meet their expected budget and schedule. 

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The 45L Tax Credit: What Is It and How It Benefits New Home Construction

One way that many countries are attempting to spur the development of energy efficiency technologies is through tax credits and rebate programs.

While many programs, such as energy benchmarking and energy efficiency mortgages, have been around for a while, the Inflation Reduction Act has made energy efficiency a central part of its green initiative.

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