Interlaken attended a City of Portland training session on how to properly develop a Site Specific Safety Plan. Pat Darby, a Construction Safety Manager, and Bryan Davis, a Construction Safety Specialist, with the City of Portland Bureau of Evironmental Services taught the class on key points regarding an S.S.S.P. and led us through an excercise where we created a sample Job Hazard Analysis to implement a S.S.S.P. A Site Specific Safety Plan is the plan on how potential job site hazards will be addressed. When used correctly, it ensures that relevant site information is regularly updated and safety is monitered. The main steps involve indentifing hazards on your job site and then eliminating, correcting or protecting your employees from those hazards. Communication is a key element to a succesful Site Specific Safety Plan, and getting feedback from workers on the job site is the best way to accomplish that. Some of the potential hazards that are commonly found on a construction site include working in and around confined spaces, excavation and shoring, cranes and rigging equipment, and Chemical and Biohazards. The best method to develop a Site Specific Safety Plan is to create a Job Hazard Analysis. A J.H.A. is a procedure which helps integrate accepted safety and health principles and practices into a particular task or job operation. In a J.H.A., each basic step of the job is layed out and the potential hazards are identified. The next step is recomending the safest way to complete the job. When developing a Site Specific Safety Plan for your next project complete a Job Hazard Analysis. Make sure employees, owners, and other contractors on the job site are aware of your work plan and set a good example of safe working practices. Safety is a critical part of any successful companies culture. We create our culture by what we demonstrate personnaly, by what we reward, and by what we tolerate. Commit to the plan and make an accountable verbal commitment to stick to it!
“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” Eleanor Roosevelt