On a construction worksite, thorough and effective safety protocols make the difference between a safe workplace and an unsafe one. While modern technology can greatly improve the safeness of a site, it’s also important to properly train people and instill a strong culture of doing things safely.
In the previous article, we saw how Samsung C&T E&C Group uses technologies to reduce and ultimately eradicate accidents from construction sites. In this article, we look at how the company acts to raise safety awareness among the construction workers themselves.
Building stronger safety awareness
In addition to developing technology, Samsung C&T E&C Group is taking steps to improve the safety awareness of its construction workers, recognizing that workers are the main agents of building workplace safety.
Construction site workflows are based on a system of letters of permission, which are forms that list predictable and possible risk factors selected by the relevant people before a certain task begins. Letters of permission are a kind of promise to perform safe work, and clients, construction firms and partner firms communicate and cooperate on their basis.
Also, Samsung C&T seeks to foster a worker-centered safety culture, for example by giving workers the right to decide for themselves whether or not to work on a given day after judging how prepared they are and assessing existing possible risk factors. To reinforce this safety culture, top management regularly visits worksites to discuss safety with employees. Moreover, before every official meeting, employees hold a “Safety Talk,” the time to talk about safety.
In Yongin, a city in Korea’s Gyeonggi Province, a “Safety Academy” has been built where employees of Samsung C&T and partner companies can learn from experience-based and communicative safety training and discuss concerns and questions in person. On overseas construction sites, where workers from various countries work together, Samsung C&T E&C Group distributes safety training materials and installs signs in relevant languages.
For Samsung C&T E&C Group, the health and safety of its employees, workers, clients, and community is regarded as the highest priority and the basic principle of business. Based on this, the company actively makes efforts to prevent accidents and to secure safe work environments. It has developed ways to maintain site safety using technology, such as risk reduction platforms, and works to check risk factors in advance and solve the causes promptly. Also, executives continuously demonstrate and practice their commitment to health and safety, and the company raises safety awareness among employees and workers by providing specialized education programs at different levels.
Now and forever, Samsung C&T will keep building the culture that values safety in every activity and encourages participation through its “Safety First” policy.
