Safety, Leadership, and Education Day 2019
Blog written by Findorff’s Safety Director Nick Femal, CHST
Safety is at the core of everything we do. It is an integral part of our values. To honor this commitment, Findorff recently held its annual Safety, Leadership, and Education Day.
Findorff started Safety, Leadership, and Education Day (SLED) back in 2015 as a fresh approach to foster our safety culture both on and off the site. “As Findorff continues to grow with projects spreading across state lines, it can be difficult to keep everyone on the same page when it comes to safety,” said Findorff Superintendent Mike Novak. “However, SLED makes this possible and is one of the most powerful tools in our safety department’s arsenal.
“Nearly 350 Findorff employees attended SLED this year. From field leaders to executives, each learned how to better keep staff, subcontractors, clients, and the general public safe during construction. Although the hard work and craftsmanship we provide is notable, the most important thing is that folks return home safe at the end of the day.
This year’s SLED had three professional speakers from across the nation. Each provided outside perspectives of safety in the construction industry. This was extremely valuable as we continually enhance our construction practices to make Findorff one of the safest contractors in the Midwest. This year’s educational offerings included:
- The safety-culture issues and events around the collapse of Big Blue at Miller Park in 1999
- Addressing the mentality expressed by feeling 10 feet tall and bulletproof
- The importance of doing the right thing on construction sites even if it is not popular
SLED was also an opportunity to highlight safety successes from the past year. For example, with nearly two million manhours completed in 2018, we had zero OSHA citations and significantly reduced our lost time incident rate by 34 percent and our total incident rate by 13 percent. Additionally, several project teams were recognized for their exemplary safety records. Not only is this is a great way to recognize a job well done by our project teams, but also it emphasizes our efforts to keep Findorff’s safety record nearly 40 percent below the national average.