NAHB and Builders Mutual Insurance Company are again inviting building and remodeling companies to take part in the fifth annual National Safety Stand-Down May 7-11 to emphasize the importance of jobsite safety, particularly when it comes to preventing falls.
A program of the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the annual event is designed to encourage all employers to take a step back and focus on ways to keep their workers, customers, subs and trade partners from getting injured.
Concord, N.C.-based Niblock Homes is preparing for its third safety stand-down because each year the event has reaped rewards — both figuratively and literally.
“We’ve made a day of it,” said Gary Embler, Niblock Homes’ internal production manager and a past president of the North Carolina HBA.
With the help of Builders Mutual, the company runs concurrent presentations in English and Spanish on safe ladder and scaffolding use, demonstrating the correct way to tie off on the roof and other best practices. It invites all of its subs and employees who work on any kind of ladder or elevated surface to attend a cookout after the instruction, with door prizes like tape measures and nail guns going to participants who correctly answer questions on job safety.
“It’s been very well received,” Ember said. “And as the market expands, we have new employees coming onto the jobsite, and that means constant education,” training that many subcontractors don’t have the time or resources to provide themselves. “Besides, the interaction between the employees, the contractors and Builders Mutual is fantastic. And our fall protection [measures] continue to improve.”
In partnership with the Job-Site Safety Institute and as part of the association’s #safety365 campaign, NAHB has put together a number of safety “toolbox talk” videos highlighting ways to address a number of everyday construction hazards. It also offers supplemental written content for conducting your own safety stand-down. You can find them at nahb.org/toolboxtalks, and see links to all NAHB’s safety resources at nahb.org/safety.
OSHA has resources and promotional materials as well on the National Safety Stand-Down webpage.