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Introduction

In 2004 the safety performance of Pepper construction came under light when the owner Dave pepper looked at the company’s EMR, which was 30% above the national average. The company reacted via making safety a part of its long-term strategic objectives and launching TEAM safety mission statement (Kristensen, 2011). The message of TEAM, which included realizing safety goals via training, empowerment, action and motivation, was communicated through out the structure of the organization from the top (hiring new safety managers) to the bottom (improved training sessions for the craftsmen). The company also drove its safety mission through prestigious external partners like OSHA, for which the Pepper construction is a gold level participant in OSHA Region V’s Strategic Partnership with the Builders Association. This commits the company to meeting many targets^[1]. These external partners were not limited to safety organizations as even the subcontractors were forced to implement the company’s safety regulations or risk loosing their contracts with Pepper Constructions. 

Answer to question 1

The TEAM mission statement ensures that multi-dimensional forces ensure the enforcement of safety standards in all the departments of Pepper Construction. There are 4 component of the TEAM mission statement, each of which has an implication regarding the increase in the safety conditions at Pepper constructions. First of all improved training was provided to all the field members. These improvements include reduced class size, increase hours of training and increase in the quality of training via collaboration with bodies such as OSHA (McCaffrey, 2013). The increased training ensures the minimum possible skill required off the employees to achieve the safety standards. Second empowerment was given to the employees to refuse orders of seniors on safety basis. This creates the required power dynamic that would ensure that safety requirements cannot be compromised on the short sighted orders of a few managers because they can be counter checked and stopped by lower staff. Lastly observable action is used to generate motivation to build a cycle that feeds of it. With actions such as increased safety precautions at work and more first aid trainings, not only are is the probability of injury negated but the workers also feel more motivated as they feel like they are important assets to the firm. 

Answers to question 2

            The safety track record of subcontractors of Pepper constructions is important because they inevitably involve the safety of the company workers that interact with those sub-contractor. An example could be a company worker who acts safe and is trained enough getting hurt because the contractor was not trained in ensuring the safety of the company staff. Such incidents are essentially loopholes in Pepper construction’s efforts to ensure the safety of its staff. That is why the firm looks at both the EMR and OSHA 300A data of its subcontractors when deciding to hire them or not (Reese, 2015).  

So essentially subcontractor safety is taken very seriously because it ensures the safety of the workers working in the firm. Furthermore such subcontractors could also damage the working environment of the firm by not allowing the workers to practice the safety training that they have gained at financial cost. This would lead to the firm not exploiting its max potential for safety. Furthermore work injuries that originate from subcontractor’s fault could negatively affect the EMR score of Pepper constructions. 

Conclusion

            After 5 years all of the actions of Pepper construction showed their results when the safety standards improved by both OSHA and EMR standards. In case of OSHA, both TCIR and DART scores were lower than the national average (lower is better). The EMR score had dropped by 9 percent after strategic planning initiative and subsequent restructuring of the safety and health program were executed. Apart from the measures of safety the efforts have also showed results in the form of improved work culture and higher employee morale. 

Idea and recommendation

            While having learnt many lessons from its own measures to increase safety in the work place Pepper constructions should also exploit the experience of other firms. This would be done via forming partnerships with external parties such as unions, suppliers, other construction companies and government. Unions that operate on the industry level could be asked to make safety requirements a higher priority item in their negotiations with other firms so that the cost of increased safety becomes more universal hence reducing the loss in competitiveness due to perusing increased safety standards. Suppliers could be asked to gear their product development towards cost effective safety improvements in the equipment provided to the construction market. Other construction companies should be asked to create forums where the different companies can share the lessons that they have learnt from the different types of projects that each company strives for. this would allow for the industry to have a shared learning curve rather than each firm having its own learning curve for increasing the safety of its workers. One of the advantage that all the firms could have from these joint safety forums is that it allows the most safe firms to create good image in the minds of the employees of the other firms.  The government could be convinced to provide tax waivers to the firms that meet a certain criteria of safety regulations. Moreover the government could be persuaded to have a central record of safety history for every firm, which would be accessible to parties such as insurers. This would increase the stakes that a firm has in maintaining good safety standards and avoiding worker incidents. 

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Reference

Kristensen, P. H. (2011). Managing OHS: A route to a new negotiating order in high-performance work organizations? Safety Science, 49(7), 964-973 %@ 0925-7535. 

McCaffrey, D. P. (2013). OSHA and the Politics of Health Regulation: Springer Science & Business Media.

Reese, C. D. (2015). Occupational health and safety management: a practical approach: CRC press.

^[1] These include reducing injuries, illnesses, and fatalities in construction by addressing key industry hazards, promoting recognition for construction safety excellence, and sharing best practices.