By Steve Corletta, regional operations manager of LeChase Construction Services
Working safely on a construction site is far more strategic than people may think. It not only requires a comprehensive, multi-tiered set of programs and processes, it also requires creating a culture where everyone works as a team to spot and address potential hazards before incidents can occur.
On any given day, hundreds of individual and collaborative safety decisions are made on a construction site – because nothing is more important than protecting crews’ health and well-being. Safe operations at construction sites do more than just protect the life and limbs of a company’s workers. By doing everything possible to ensure safety at the work site, a company is:
- supporting quality construction
- building trust with clients and subcontractors
- safeguarding clients’ personnel and property.
One element that I believe has helped our safety efforts at LeChase to produce measurable results is the use of safety observations.
The concept is simple, but powerful.
Everyone onsite – managers, project team members, subcontractors and crew members – is encouraged to stay alert to their surroundings and record their observations. Observations can be positive, such as noting access walkways have been cleared on a snowy day. They may also signal a need for action – such as reminding another worker to inspect their harness before doing elevated work.
Workers enter observations into our Project Management System, which links them to a custom safety dashboard that helps sort, tally and analyze the situations. This provides a wealth of information that can then be examined by region, type of project, or even individual project. The trends and metrics that emerge serve as “leading indicators” regularly shared with regions to drive relevant action before incidents can occur.
As workers have embraced the safety observations program, it has shown dramatic benefits. In 2024, the number of observations entered into our system more than tripled – a key factor in reducing recordable incidents by nearly 70% year over year.
The leading indicators are used in many ways and at many levels. For example, they can:
- define the most relevant topics to cover during a project’s sitewide safety huddles, allowing foremen to reinforce best practices and provide coaching as needed.
- prompt a region-wide inspection of various equipment to ensure it is up to date and in good condition.
- give relevant perspectives about particular types of work – excavation, working at heights, etc. – that teams performing that work can discuss as they review daily tasks.
- provide opportunities to broadly communicate on topics – like ladder safety or jobsite cleanliness – that are common across regions.
- identify metric-driven trends that the company’s safety team can use to formulate new programs and solutions.
Of course, a critical adjunct to reporting observations is empowering everyone to address potential issues they observe. Examples include removing worn ladders from use, hanging cords so they aren’t in walkways and intervening if a worker doesn’t have the right protective equipment for a task. Additional programs we have developed also drive these behaviors among employees and subcontractors. Stop Work Authority authorizes anyone on a LeChase site to halt activity – without repercussion – if they see a potentially hazardous situation. The Good Catch Program recognizes workers with merchandise, gift cards or other rewards when they report or correct situations that require action.
Together, all facets contribute to the company’s safety-first culture, which starts with safety observations. The trends they identify propel awareness and action, moving us toward our ultimate goal of zero incidents. As the company’s regional operations manager, I take pride in the company’s safety culture as well as our employees who live and breathe it every day.
LeChase Construction Services has its New York Metro office in Armonk. Its website is at LeChase.com.
