Driving Safety

From the Project Owner to the Sub-Contractor

Overview

• Case Study – Frontline Investigation – “Cell Tower Deaths”– Sent out in May 3, 2012 email to FEPA Safety

email list.– PBS, Correspondent Martin Smith

• Multi-employer Worksite Rule• Responsibilities of employees, employers,

contractors and project owners

Video File

Case Study• What does climbing cell phone

towers have to do with pipelines?– Projects

• Expansion Projects• New Installations• Ground Beds• Re-coats• Relocations• Turbine and Recip installations and

Overhauls– Project Owners

• Pipeline / Energy Companies – Contractors

• Pipeline Construction Companies• Cathodic Protection Companies• Turbine and Recip Companies

– Sub-contractors• ROW contractors• Paving companies• Excavators and landscapers

– Employees• Tough• Not afraid of anything• Out to prove themselves

– Deadlines• In Service Dates• Service interruptions- Gas control

and customer windows• Down time

– Costs• Budgets• Sub contractor cuts• Labor costs

Safety Culture• Symptoms of an unsafe culture:

– I’m a tough “pipeliner” / construction worker!

– I don’t want to look like I can’t hack it!– I’ve been doing this job forty years.– I’ve done it like this thirty years and

never got hurt.– You can talk that safety stuff but, at

the end of the day, the work has to get done!

• Our goal is zero accidents!– That was the goal of the Titanic too!

Safety Culture

• Every company, project, work team and employee has a safety culture.

• It is either good or bad but it is always there.• “Safety is culture driven and management

establishes the culture.” – “Advanced Safety Management” by Fred A. Manuele.

• Where your management leads your company’s culture will follow.

Safety Culture

• Culture is driven by management.• Culture is expressed by the employee.• Employee behavior is a sign of the company’s

culture.• Culture is “the basic values, norms, beliefs,

and practices that characterize the functioning of an institution.” Fred A. Manuele

• So who’s job is safety?So who’s job is safety?

Sound like a pipeline or construction worker?

I’m Superman• What type of employees does the pipeline,

energy and construction industry attract?– Tough– Can do anything attitude– Look up to seasoned veterans and want acceptance– Will not say no– Out to prove themselves– Cocky?

• I’ll can’t get hurt, I’m only 21 years old. Nothing can hurt me.

• Safety Culture?

Who’s job is safety?

Who’s Job Is Safety?

• Each individual is responsible for safety, right?• James Reason states: “The impact of (top

level) decisions spreads throughout the organization, shaping a distinctive corporate culture and creating error-producing factors within individual work places.”

• Safety should be invisible:– It should be so integrated within the culture that it

is not seen as a separate aspect.

Who’s fault was it? He did something unsafe! /But they allowed him to do it!

Symptoms of the Culture

• Filled out an application, got a $600.00 check and flew out the next day.

• Had no prior experience.• Was repelling:– Was he trained to repel?– Horsing around.– Co-workers cheering him on.– Broken hook that popped off the tower. (required

inspection prior to use).– Recent drug use.

The Blame Game• Kyle Waites, President of Phoenix

– 2 levels below project owner– Contractor of the sub-contractor / employer (All Around Towers)– “I would make some phone calls and open the door and once I got them in

they would pretty much take it from there.”– “I was not the guy that put the crew leader in charge.”– “Waites puts most of the blame on Gifford for breaking the safety rules and

All Around Towers for broken equipment and lack of supervision.”– “Once you leave men alone, the men have to police themselves.”– “The man in charge has to be the sergeant.”– “You can’t hold the hand of everybody one hundred percent of the time.”

• Robert Hale, Former Climber– “When you are allowed to do something that is strictly unsafe, then

something is wrong up the line somewhere.”

Was Human Error The Cause?

• “The Blame Machine: Why Human Error Causes Accidents” by R. B. Whittingham,– “Disasters and serious accidents result from recurring

but potentially avoidable human error”– “Human error typically result from: organizational,

cultural, technical, and management system failures”• In “ A Field Guide to Understanding Human

Error”, Sydney Dekker states: “Human error should be the starting point of the investigation, not the root cause.”

What drives your culture? Time? Money? Projects? Contracts?

Safety Is Number 1• Safety FIRST!

– But have the project completed by this date!• Zero accidents is our goal!

– Getting this project done is yours!• We had ZERO recordable injuries on our project!

– But, our contractor (or sub-contractor) had 15 lost time injuries and 3 fatalities.

• No one wants to get hurt, and few employees break rules to be malicious.

• Most incidents occur when employees do something unsafe because they believe it is for the company’s benefit (“The Courage Factor”, Scott Geller).– Schedule, money, deadlines, customer needs, etc…

Is this your Project Manager / Inspector?

What’s Wrong With This Guy?• He is actively caring!• He is engaged!• He is conducting site audits and inspections!• He is holding people, crews and companies

accountable!• He is establishing a culture!• He is setting a standard!• He is making safety equal to all other aspects of

the job!• He is putting people above the project!

Multi-employer worksites- Compliance v/s Prevention? Liability v/s Deniability?

Layers of Projects

• In the pipeline / utility industry we usually have a rep on site.– DOT

compliance, damage prevention, etc…

• Hard to build layers to protect us from citations.

Turf Contractor- General Turf Contractor- General ContractorContractor

Sub-contractorsSub-contractors

EmployeesEmployees

Project OwnerProject Owner

InspectorInspector

Four Classes of Employers• The exposing employer- Any employer

who’s employee or employees are exposed to a hazard during the course of the employee’s duty.

• The controlling employer- Any employer who has the authority to make changes or have another employer to make changes on a jobsite.

• The creating employer- Any employer who created or who’s employees created a hazard on a jobsite by.

• The correcting employer- Any employer who has the responsibility and means to correct a hazard.

Who Gets the Citation on a Multi-employer Worksite?

• On multi-employer worksites both construction and non-construction citations normally shall be issued to the employer whose employees are exposed to the hazards (The Exposing Employer).

• Others that CAN be cited are the:– Creating; – Correcting; and– Controlling

Defenses For A Multi-Employer Violation

Did not create the hazard.Did not have the authority to correct.Notified the responsible party, warned own

employees, and removed them from the hazard.

*The employer must meet all of these standards.

How do project owners / contractors prevent these issues?

• Hire competent contractors that hire competent sub-contractors and employees.

• Require training• Require drug testing programs• Contracts that require compliance• Vet contractors & subs

– Work history– Incident Modifier Rate

• Conduct audits and site inspections.• Watch for contractors shutting down and reopening under

another name.• Hold management accountable for safety requirements.

How do employees prevent these issues?

• Participate in required training• Follow safety rules.• Participate in audits and site inspections.• Watch out for each other.• Don’t take short cuts.• Hold the employer accountable for safety

policies.

Build A Culture of Safety

• Top Down / Bottom Up• Integrate safety in to the business, not a

separate function. (Invisible)• Employee, Team, Supervisor, Company, Sub-

contractor, Contractor, Project Owner ACCOUNTABILITY!