“The key is recognizing that keeping safety a primary focus will always be in tension with all the other priorities happening on a job site. It’s a great opportunity for technology to come in and bring better compliance with easier access. Safety is always important. When somebody gets hurt on the job, everything stops. It becomes the number one priority.

But, when I say it’s in tension, unfortunately, I think a lot of the time, when you’re on a job, you’re focused on getting the project done, meeting deadlines, handling all the issues that come up on the project. It creates tension with the safety aspect of it.

It can be hard to keep that safety in the forefront of your mind. Acknowledging that there is a tension there, and it’s always competing with the rest of the project, trying to make it easier and quicker to get safety compliance through technology, I think will go a long way in easing that burden.

Having a standardized system that all workers on the job can use to bring up safety concerns, I think is a huge one.

Because, at the end of the day, especially as a site super, you’re in charge of making sure that everyone’s working safe.

Those are the guys that are working in very particular areas of the job, that if anybody is going to see a safety issue, those guys are going to be some of the first to see it.

Make it an easy way for them to say, “Hey, by the way, this is an issue, just so you know.” Sometimes it needs to be anonymous, that goes along with building out safety documentation and training to keep accountability.

Having technology make it easy for subcontractors and workers to send their documentation over, show that they’re actually doing their training, their job hazard analysis, things like that, and letting the super just very quickly see, “Hey, these guys are submitting their documentation. Perfect.”

They don’t have to worry about it, or, “Oh, wow, these guys haven’t submitted in the past three days, and I need to go talk to them.”

It goes a long way in easing that tension and making it simpler for everyone on the job site to stay on the same page.”

– Joseph Shea, NYC Superintendent.

SkillSignal is here to help as the only truly all-in-one safety and compliance solution for construction. Are you interested in learning more? Contact us today at: 917-745-6877 or info@skillsignal.com.

Are you aware of the Mental Health Crisis in Construction? Read more here:

1. Suicide and Depression in the Construction Industry
2. Tackling Mental Health in Construction
3. How to Combat Addiction and Alcohol Abuse in the Construction Industry