Many construction managers often face the seemingly insurmountable task of creating and maintaining a safety culture though varying conditions, ever-changing craft, and increasing schedule demands. One common method of assessing the safety of construction projects is through the use of site audits, inspections or observations. Although quite commonly done, many projects struggle getting quality data and then using their observation intelligence to predict and prevent incidents. Furthermore, many miss the opportunity of impacting their site-based safety cultures by providing quality feedback to their project staff and contractors.
This paper will provide a case study outlining the steps Southern Company's Generation Engineering and Construction Services took to build a new safety process and the successes that followed. The goal is to share the strategies and pitfalls of beginning a Safety Step-Change process, while outlining the strategies for maintaining and sustaining the initial momentum often following a new initiative. The article will further discuss the improvements of their quality of site inspections, their increased the level of leadership engagement with their craft, and the reduction in how many people went home hurt.
