PPE Training Is Essential For Safety On Our Building Sites

At ICG, we take safety seriously.

It’s not enough for us have a reputation for innovative, affordable housing…

We want a reputation as a conscientious employer that takes care of its employees.

That’s why we place so much emphasis on training our employees on the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and that includes hard hats.

We take extraordinary precautions on our job sites to eliminate threats to health and safety, but accidents can still happen.

That’s why hard hats are essential for protecting our team from workplace hazards.

Head hazards on the job

We enforce all of the occupational health and safety guidelines set out by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and have enhanced those guidelines with many of our own, taking health and safety to an even higher level.

Despite our diligence and training, things can still go wrong onsite. And when it’s a head hazard, things can go very wrong.

There are three major head hazards on a building site:

• Being struck by falling objects
• Bumping into a fixed object
• Coming into contact with electrical hazards

These hazards can cause a wide range of injuries, from concussions to fractured vertebrae and permanent spinal damage.

Head injuries – even mild concussions – are life-changing for the employee, and costly for an employer. A mild head injury will cost your company an average of $100K…a severe injury upwards of $3M…

Employees with head injuries often have a long road to recovery that includes healing their mental health in the wake of the accident.

PPE – worn properly – can prevent serious injury when the unexpected occurs.

Wearing PPE from curb-to-curb

The first hard hat was invented in 1919 by a World War One veteran who repurposed his doughboy army helmet for work on a construction site. By the 1930s, they were seen on many job sites, but they were still optional…

It wasn’t until 1970 when the OSHA was created, that hard hats became regulated – and mandatory. And the effects were significant. Workplace deaths dropped from 15,000 that year to 5200 by 2016.

There’s no question hard hats save lives, which is why ICG has a “curb-to-curb” policy for PPE. 

This means, from the moment our employees walk over the curb of a job site, they must be wearing all their PPE:

• hard hat
• safety glasses
• steel-toed work boots

Whether they’re a seasoned employee or new to our team, the rules apply across the board.

“Heads-up” really means “heads down”

When it comes to PPE, there are plenty of excuses for not wearing it on a job site…

It’s too hot.

It’s uncomfortable.

I’ve never been hurt before; I’ll be fine.

It’s the last excuse that can cause the most damage…because accidents, by their nature, are unforeseen. No amount of past health and safety guarantees it in the future, even on the most strictly regulated work site.

So, there are no valid excuses for not wearing a hard hat…and wearing it properly. 

We train our team on the proper care and maintenance of their helmet – keeping the suspension set properly can be the difference between a headache and a concussion if an object falls on them. 

It’s recommended that the suspension be replaced every year and the entire hard hat every five years.

Employees aren’t allowed to wear hats under their hard hats, though it’s tempting for extra protection from the sun. They alter the suspension and reduce the effectiveness of the PPE.

They’re also not permitted to customize their hard hat with stickers. This is because there are chemicals in the ink and adhesives that might damage the shell’s integrity.

We also teach our employees that “heads up” actually means “heads down”…a hard hat is most effective if the force of a falling object is taken on the top of the helmet. And, level head means the helmet will bear the brunt if an employee walks into a rafter or another low-hanging hazard.

No matter how skilled or experienced they are, everyone will have moments on the job where their attention will stray, even for a moment. It’s for those moments that PPE protects them from serious injury.

Safety comes first, from the top down

Real estate developers know us for reducing cycle time. Homeowners know us for the quality of the final product built on our precision frames. And our employees know us for taking the time to train them on every aspect of safety on the job.

Our employees are more than workers…they’re family. So our training programs are designed to make sure our ‘work family’ gets to go home at the end of each day to their loved ones. 

Proper use of PPE – including hard hats – is one of the easiest ways to ensure the health and safety of our employees onsite. This includes employees in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, and our team who install the homes on the building site.

Every single employee is valued, and they’ll all get the best training possible to ensure they stay safe and healthy so they can do what they do best: help us build innovative, affordable homes.

At ICG, safety comes from the top down. Want to learn more? Contact us.