We Value Innovation in Safety

Decades ago, companies managed safety with the old hierarchical command and control management style. With this mentality, employees and safety were viewed as a necessary evil and injuries and accidents were considered a part of doing business.

We recognize the value of a flexible, innovative and responsive style that views employees as our most valuable resources. The greatest benefits of engagement by all employees are leading by example, enabling employees to view upper management’s involvement in safety, and increased employee involvement in safety and decision making.

Programs and Plans to Address Hazards

Core elements of a excellent health and safety program is workers participation and belief in the program, management leadership, hazard prevention and control, education and training, program evaluation and improvement, and communication. Among the root causes of workplace injuries, illnesses and incidents is the failure to identify or recognize hazards that are present or that could have been anticipated.

A critical element of any effective safety and health program is a proactive, ongoing process to identify and assess such hazards. F.E. Moran utilizes a process that addresses all potential hazards.

• Collect and review information about hazards present or likely to be present in the workplace.
• Conduct initial and periodic workplace inspections to identify new or recurring hazards.
• Investigate injuries, illnesses, incidents and close calls/near misses to determine underlying hazards, their causes, and safety and health program shortcomings.
• Group similar incidents and identify trends in injuries, illnesses and hazards reported.
• Consider hazards associated with emergency or non-routine situations.
• Determine the severity and likelihood of incidents that might result from each identified hazard and use this information to prioritize corrective actions.

Measuring Safety Success

We group leading safety indicators into three major categories:

Operations- and Quality-Based
Measured by compliance, risk assessment, preventive and corrective actions, equipment and tools preventive maintenance, prevention through design and material selection.

System-Based
Hazard identification and recognition, leading indicator component evaluation, learning system, permit-to-work system, safety perception survey, communication of safety, recognition, disciplinary and reinforcement system, hazard analysis, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) system component evaluation, risk assessment, and preventive and corrective actions.

Behavior-Based
Leadership engagement, employee engagement and participation, at-risk behaviors and safe behaviors, area observations and walk-arounds, and off-the-job safety.

Incident Investigation Procedure

Workplace incidents, including injuries, illnesses, close calls/near misses and reports of other concerns provide a clear indication of where hazards exist. By thoroughly investigating incidents and reports, we identify hazards that are likely to cause future harm. The purpose of an investigation must always be to identify the root causes (often more than one) of the incident or concern to prevent future occurrences.

F.E. Moran has developed a clear program and procedures for conducting incident investigations, allowing an investigation to begin immediately after the incident occurs. Our team is trained in incident investigation techniques that emphasize objectivity and open-mindedness, and it includes management and worker representatives. We identify and analyze root causes to address program shortcomings that allowed the incidents to happen. We communicate the results of the investigation to managers, supervisors and workers to prevent a recurrence.

Effective investigations don’t stop after identifying a single factor that triggered an incident. F.E. Moran asks all questions.

Example 1: Equipment Accident. What lead to the failure? Why did it fail? Was it maintained properly? Was it beyond its service life? How could this failure have been prevented?

Example 2: Employee Injury. F.E. Moran does not conclude that a worker made an error. We ask: Was the worker provided the appropriate tools and time to do the work? Was the worker adequately trained? Was the worker properly supervised?

Our Safety Training Process

The F.E. Moran Group of Companies has a comprehensive day 1 required orientation training seminars which has been built specifically for our work environments. This new hire orientation is completed in our state-of-the-art training facility where employees receive comprehensive OSHA review and required health and safety specifications related to our work assignments. Furthermore, employee(s) receive comprehensive fleet and safe driver training including online defensive driving training. 

Utilizing our training facility, the safety professionals at The F.E. Moran Group of Companies, provides comprehensive OSHA subpart Core Training to include subject matter such as: HAZCOM, Scaffolding, Excavation, Fall Protection, Crane Signal, Forklift, Electrical, Aerial Lift Platforms, etc.

Toolbox talks focus on the relationship between the worker, the task, the tools utilized, training requirement and inspection needs, and competent person responsibilities. They help to identify hazards and provide recommended controls with the goal of preventing injuries. Toolbox talks are held once a week for every jobsite and they include every employee working on that project. Completed toolbox talks are then submitted for record retention.

Safety Observations and Audits

Workplace inspections are important to help prevent incidents, injuries and illnesses. The purposes of these inspections are to:

• Listen to the concerns of workers and supervisors
• Gain further understanding of jobs and tasks
• Identify existing and potential hazards
• Determine underlying causes of hazards
• Recommend corrective action(s)
• Monitor steps taken to eliminate hazards or control the risks (e.g., engineering controls, administrative controls, policies, procedures and personal protective equipment)

Here’s how it works:

1. Site inspection is performed.
2. Inspection report is emailed to the project manager or equivalent.
3. Written response is required within five business days.
4. All inspections are audited monthly and data is used to capture hazard trends, elimination and control.
5. Training is scheduled company-wide as well as via toolbox talks.

Innovative Safety Culture

Being good at safety evolves over time. To be truly excellent at safety is challenging as it involves employee involvement, management commitment, and new or innovative controls to ensure a safe, healthy jobsite. F.E. Moran safety professionals have become resource and subject-matter experts in advising rather than directing efforts. This demonstrates our leadership in innovative safety excellence.

Our organization defines safety excellence and innovation as the ability to repeat great results, gain insight into what leads the results, and uphold the cultural mindset of continuous improvement. It means fewer employee injuries and illnesses, and an environment in which our employees go home to their families in the same manner in which they arrived at work.