Hagerman participates in many Safety initiatives, including Safety Week, happening May 1-5, 2023. Safety Week serves as a reminder to continue to focus our safety efforts as well as to inspire each other to commit to hold each other accountable for our own safety and the safety of others. It is also a reminder that we don’t focus on safety because we are required to but because it’s the right thing to do.
Throughout Safety Week, Hagerman will emphasize five issues: heat protection, mental health safety, working from heights and fall protection, fire safety and evacuation, and jobsite housekeeping.
Our staff will learn more about heat protection including the steps to prevent, recognize, and treat heat-related illness, as well as the hydration scale and how to check your urine for signs of dehydration. Next, we will share information on mental health safety and provide avenues for our employees to access help should they be struggling. This includes protective factors to improve mental health. Third, we will focus on safely working from heights and fall protection measures which includes fall protection systems and their proper inspection. Next, our focus turns to fire safety and evacuation including proper equipment, knowing your evacuation plan, and determining alternate exit routes. Finally, our staff will learn more about jobsite housekeeping and the importance of everyone doing their part to improve this on jobsites.
In addition to these daily topics, Safety Week will put an emphasis on Hagerman’s Good Catch Program. This is a peer-to-peer nominated program for anyone showing characteristics of being a Safety Leader. This can include anyone who demonstrates our Core Value of Safety, who is a Champion for Safety and promotes a culture of safety excellence, who went above and beyond to correct a safety hazard, who has taken action to correct a hazardous situation, who has submitted and helped implement a safety process improvement, or who challenges others to work as safe as possible, effectively plans ahead, and never takes shortcuts.
A Safety Manager has many responsibilities within Hagerman including conducting preconstruction meetings, accident and incident investigations, training, inspections, site visits, safety program updates, and researching new and innovative safety technologies just to name a few.
To me, being a Safety Manager at Hagerman means I am consistently helping our team members solve problems to ensure everyone is doing the right thing and going home to their families in the evening in the same way or better than they came in in the morning.
Hagerman has a strong safety culture and ensures that all employees have the same level of accountability when it comes to not only our own but everyone’s safety. This includes our Leadership Team speaking and acting on these same values. Having a strong safety culture allows all employees to think about safety as something they want instead of something they need.
As a Safety Manager, my approach is consistency through proactive planning and communication. By planning ahead and using good communication skills, we can engineer or substitute out potentially hazardous conditions and greatly reduce risk from our projects. Another advantage includes helping others see the benefits of a safe workplace and making Hagerman a company where people want to work.
