Every year construction professionals across the nation join together in a combined effort in a show of force to promote Safety. This year Lewis joined the effort in a major way.
While every week at Lewis is safety week, the national event is a useful rallying point and chance for every one of us to dig deeper and recommit, in every workgroup and at every jobsite.
We kicked off Safety Week Monday by making a safety pledge during our morning ErgoFit warm-ups on each jobsite. For example, at our Valley Catholic Science Building site in Beaverton, the crew pledged, “If I see something unsafe, I will say something.” Some teams created safety boards featuring photos of crew members’ friends and family to reinforce why we Work Safe for Life.
We gave high-visibility safety shirts to every tradesperson working on our projects, and special training and emergency preparedness sessions were held on Lewis sites throughout Washington and Oregon. The week concluded today with “all hands” site safety BBQs and pizza parties to celebrate and reflect on the pledges made at the beginning of the week.
While Safety Week has been a great time to focus on safety, moving forward it’s important that we don’t lose the momentum we’ve gained. So, we will continue to practice awareness throughout the year and on new projects that are about to start:
- We start every meeting with a “Safety Moment” and are all committed to creating an environment where every member of our team goes home safely every day.
- We take jobsite hazard analysis and pre-task planning seriously. With thoughtful preparation, training and protective measures, every accident is preventable.
- ErgoFit warm up sessions are held every day on every jobsite. It’s not only a time to stretch and mentally prepare our crews for the physical challenges of the day, but also an opportunity to talk about changing conditions on the site and specific hazards presented by the day’s activities ahead.
- Our teams are working closely with Lewis safety leadership to avoid accidents before they occur, based on real-time observations in the field using a tool called Predictive Solutions.
Safety isn’t a department at Lewis. It’s part of our culture. The safety boards and pledge banners created this week will remain posted on our sites for months to come—good reminders of how and why we Work Safe for Life.