Traditionally, the topic of safety has not been the most popular on many construction sites. 

The general mindset regarding safety has been that it slows down production rates across a jobsite. Often times, construction workers have expressed negative thoughts about the relevance of OSHA and the regulations that it oversees. The team at Rhumbix would like to challenge the premise that safety slows down a construction project. In fact, I, the ConAppGuru, believe that safety is actually productivity’s best friend!

When accidents, near misses, and injuries occur they all stop the clock on production for a certain amount of time for workers. Injured workers must be stabilized, treated, and transported to a medical facility. The site management team must conduct an investigation to ensure that the work area is safe and crews can return to work. All of these actions are not part of the work plan, they keep work from going into place. In essence, any downtime is lost production time that is difficult to make up.

By taking a few minutes at the start of each work shift during a pre-planning session crews can review the hazards that may be encountered during the day and discuss how to avoid or reduce them. Crews can take a little time to review SDS (Safety Data Sheets) for the materials that they will be working with or inspect work tools and PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) such as harnesses and lanyards. Workers can better prepare themselves for the work that they are about to accomplish.

In order to make the safest plan for a day, field crews should leverage mobile apps to plan their workday. By reviewing the DCR (Daily Construction Report) from the previous day, a Foreman can review the hazards encountered and develop a new plan for controlling or eliminating the hazards for the day. By utilizing mobile apps, crews can accomplish what they need to in order to safely meet the demands of the schedule. As the old adage goes, “a clean job is a safe job”. We at Rhumbix would like to suggest that going forward, “a safe job, is a productive job”.

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