Georgia Branch, AGC Safety Stand Down Set For Friday, August 8

The focus will be on crane safety as some 40 companies, representing 220 job sites and 18,000 employees, pause to focus on crane safety.

By Steve Hudson -- Associated Construction Publications, 7/31/2008

Crane accidents and crane safety have been much in the news lately. To increase the construction industry’s awareness of the vital importance of safety in this area, the Georgia Branch, Associated General Contractors (AGC) is joining with OSHA and with CompTrustAGC Mutual Captive Insurance Company (MCIC) to sponsor a Safety Stand Down on Friday, August 8, with the emphasis on crane safety.

"Construction companies, who know the value of safety training, use a Safety Stand Down to stop all work and provide a focused safety toolbox talk meeting on all their jobsites, on one day, at the same time, on one particular topic," notes Cherri Watson, director of safety, education and workforce development for Georgia Branch, AGC.

Stand downs are common in the military, Watson said, but they are also found in the construction industry.

"AGC chapters across America regularly organize them for their contractor members," Watson says, "and many national contractors also include them in their safety programs."

Watson adds that a safety stand down can be a significant factor in construction safety.

"Georgia Branch, AGC, and our Stand Down partners, OSHA and CompTrustAGC Mutual Captive Insurance Company (MCIC), believe there is tremendous value in committing 30 minutes to an hour of your day's work to talk about safety, leading to increased employee safety morale," she says. "Stopping to talk about safety brings it to the forefront of everyone's mind. It is very important to communicate your firm's safety message to front line workers who constitute the largest group of our industry's workforce."

This particular Safety Stand Down grew out of two factors -- Georgia Branch, AGC’s long-standing emphasis on safety, combined with concerns over the recent spate of crane-related accidents.

"During a recent TV interview," Watson says, "we were asked what we as an industry are doing to protect the public where cranes are being used." Part of the answer, she continues, was to move ahead with a safety stand down focusing on crane safety.

"The public needs to know that we are concerned about safety and that the industry is actively adopting best safety practices, not only in the area of crane safety but in other areas of the industry as well," Watson said.

To develop the tool box talk that will be at the heart of the safety stand down, Georgia Branch, AGC invited contractor safety supervisors and representatives of a number of crane and erection companies to meet and, in Watson’s words, "proactivetly discuss the problem and identify the key elements."

"From that meeting we developed best safety practices for tower crane safety," she says, "we took the best safety practices and developed a Powerpoint presentation that will be at the center of the August 8 Safety Stand Down tool box talk."

As the plans for the stand down began to take shape, Georgia Branch, AGC further tailored the tool box talk presentation to include not only tower crane safety but also safety where crawler and mobile cranes are being used.

The presentation, Watson adds, will be offered in English as well as in Spanish.

According to Watson, interest in the Safety Stand Down has been great. To date, some 40 companies, representing 220 job sites and a total of 18,000 employees, are signed up to participate. Companies participating in the Safety Stand Down have made the commitment to conduct the Stand Down on their jobsites on the morning of August 8 beginning at 7:00 a.m., using the presentation provided by Georgia Branch, AGC.

"Some folks have said that they don’t currently have a tower crane active on their sites" she says, "but we remind them that at some point in their construction careers they will almost certainly be working on a job site where there is an active crane. Our goal is to give them the knowledge they need now, so that they can take it with them to use not only now but in the future as well."

For more information, contact Cherri Watson at 678-298-4104.