This week’s Toolbox Talks focus on the January EPS Safety Committee Meeting that was held this past Wednesday, January 23rd, 2019 at 7:00 a.m. Members present for the meeting were EPS Safety Director Eric Thoreson, EPS CEO Carla Struble, Mark Struble, Ben Dressen, Randy Guthman, Mark Hines, Nick Parins, and Joel Noennig.
The first item of discussion focused on EPS Safety Audits. The Safety Committee completed a number of audits during the month of December which went well and planned to schedule some more safety audits during the month of February. Eric Thoreson plans to conduct a safety audit at the City of Ramsey and the Willy McCoy project. Nick Parins volunteered to conduct a safety audit at Interstates Storage once the project gets underway. Once the safety audits are completed, the person who conducted the audit will share their results at the next Safety Committee Meeting in February.
The next item of discussion focused on the Confined Space Training held on Monday, December 10th, in the EPS warehouse. No members of the Safety Committee had received any positive or negative feedback, but the Safety Committee shared they thought it went well and gave the team members attending the training a good start on how to use the newly purchased confined space equipment. The training worked well as ABC brought their safety training trailer right to EPS so the training could be conducted on site.
The Safety Committee discussed the possibility of scheduling some upcoming safety training and hosting an All-In Meeting. Carla, Mark, and Eric will plan to meet with the EPS Management Team to finalize key training topics and when to schedule the meeting.
The topic of discussion focused on toolbox talks and the Safety Committee felt it would be a great idea for the leads assigned on projects to review the toolbox talks with everyone assigned to the projects together and set a time where each team member could read then discuss the toolbox talk subject. It would also help the Leads ensure all the right PPE equipment was being used and provide some time to review any safety hazards that may be present on the jobsite.
In March, ABC will be hosting their annual Safety and Construction Conference in St. Cloud and Mankato. This year Mark Struble, Mark Hines, Ben Dressen, Jake Struble all plan to attend. If you are interested in attending, please let Joel know and he can add you to the list. It is a great day to learn about safety and meet other people from other trades to learn how important safety in on the jobsite.
During the month of December and January, the Safety Committee received a number of new “near misses”. Brad Jeurissen assisted an elderly lady at a local post office who had slipped on the ice and fell between parked cars. Jason Noerenberg shared another where a carpenter was walking on framing studs working on a ceiling in a dangerous way. Jason Noerenberg shared he was at a jobsite were someone began demolition into a wall that cut wires that were energized and could have harmed people working at the jobsite. Matt Frolik shared a near miss by discovering large metal rat traps above the ceiling that could have been a huge hazard of someone would have put their hand into a trap while working above the ceiling. Steve Solheid shared a near miss of some live panels being energized with no covers and people working in the building. Jason Noerenberg shared another near miss of a lull lifting a dumpster to work as a boom lift to lift workers up to the roofline of the building he was working in. All of these are excellent reportable “near misses”. Thank you to all of those who submitted their findings. It is a very helpful tool to keep all of us aware of safety.
Next month, the EPS Safety Committee plans to complete the STEP audit and complete the safety analysis of our company. Our goal this year is to attain a Gold Level and move up from Silver. Each of you in the field plays a critical role in helping us reach the Gold level in the STEP process. So far this year we are starting out great with no safety incidents, injuries or lost time. We also have a good EMR rate which measures our safety incident rate and lost time each year. Anytime you can maintain a level below 1.0 you are doing great as a company and at this current time, we are at a .83 EMR rating. So please keep up the great work and stay safe!
The EPS Safety Committee meeting concluded at 7:50 a.m.