As you may know, GCs on major construction projects are subject to a wide range of standards and specifications that control not only how they operate, but how the subcontractors they hire (that would be us!) must also operate.
So we here at Metro Sign and Awning spend a considerable amount of time, effort, and resources making sure we’re qualified to work with the very best.
This includes, for example:
- Safety Programs
- Lean Initiatives
- Quality Programs
- ISO Certfication
- OSHA Certification
- 5-S Methodology
Over the next weeks and months, we’ll try not to bore you as we discuss from a relatively broad, managerial perspective some of the programs we have implemented and some of the training and certifications we have received in order to comply with the high standards on which the most successful GCs insist.
Among the most complex and important of all these is the effort we make toward workplace safety.
For example, Metro Sign and Awning complies with a detailed Safety Program that occupies almost 400 pages of carefully worded descriptions, standards, and requirements. Our Safety Program covers an astounding range of topics, from standards for “Back Lifting” to procedures for limiting “Workplace Violence.”
We’re also concerned with protecting ourselves and those exposed to our products and procedures from hazardous chemicals, fires and falls, motor vehicle dangers, ergonomic issues, and even heat stress.
For each of these areas, and dozens of others I have not mentioned here, we have written standards, comprehensive training programs, ongoing awareness measures, educational materials, and – to make it all stick – detailed designations of managerial responsibility.
Our project managers routinely create site-specific safety programs that we submit to General Contractors, as well as Site Superintendents and Project Managers. We take all this very seriously, because the GCs who trust us to help them complete their construction projects expect nothing less.
Just for lifting, for example, we pay attention to a great many issues, including:
- Awkward objects
- General lifting situations
- Using cranes and hoists on signs, awnings, and canopies
- Lifting drums, barrels, and cylinders
- Lifting from hard-to-get-at places
- Lifting or lowering from high places
- Shoveling
I could go into a lot more detail about each and every one of these sub-topics, as well as each and every one of the more than 40 different areas of concern that are covered in our Safety Program.
In fact, I will, if you’re interested.
But I don’t want to bore anyone. So if you want to know more, please send me an email or give me a call with a specific question, or just a general inquiry. I’ll be happy to share with you some of the issues we think about, train for, and try to avoid when it comes to the safety of our team, and those we impact with our products and services.
