Last call for nominations: The benefits of receiving a COS award and ways to leverage a win
Plan Group Inc. is planning to enter the nomination process for Canada’s Safest Employers Awards because that kind of an acknowledgement can help the company achieve another important goal, both internally and externally, according to Cody Craig, Plan Group HSE Manager for Central and Eastern Canada.
“We’re hoping that if we are successful in getting some of these awards, it motivates people to buy in more to the program,” explains Craig, who says achieving safety buy-in can be one of the toughest challenges in the construction industry.
The nomination period is still open, but closes April 21, so don’t hesitate to get those nominations in.
In 2019, Plan Group received a construction sector CSEA Silver award. Craig believes receiving recognition for having a strong safety culture and program shows employees at Plan Group, as well as the contractors it works with, that it is walking the walk.
“Recognizing that we're doing the right thing and we're going above and beyond where the industry is… I'm hoping that award will boost the morale in the workforce.”
Craig isn’t alone, with many safety professionals focusing on buy-in, regardless of the industry in which they work. Finding creative ways to communicate and connect with frontline workers thorough understanding of rules, policies, and regulations is much easier said than done.
For Plan Group, and many other construction businesses, it isn’t just the workers within the company that need to believe in the safety program, but it’s convincing the subcontractors and their employees as well.
Craig says they use innovative software to ensure subcontractors they’re working with can easily get on the same safety page. “We're trying to use contractor checks more thoroughly this year, to get buy-in out of the gate from our subcontractors to verify that they have certain components of the program. So at least we have a starting point for them.”
The implementation of new tools and technology can sometimes be met with resistance from frontline workers who must learn and adopt a new work function. But Craig says when they see the benefits of those tools, it becomes easier to encourage workers to buy in.
“We've had better success this year, and showing people the bigger picture in real time, rather than waiting for the incidents to happen or showing them 2022 stats only,” explains Craig, who says the software they’re using now helps identify what their teams are doing right, and where there is room for improvement.
“Now they can see a dashboard, where we're at for documentation, incidents, inspections, and training in real time. We can show compliance wise where we're at, so some of those groups can actually see where they need to pick up their socks.”
Craig hopes Plan Group will be recognized for it’s use of innovative technology by the CSEAs, which will in turn help further achieve that highly coveted buy-in safety professionals desire. But the company will face stiff competition from other organizations.
The nomination period is still open, but closes April 21, so don’t hesitate to get those nominations in.
