Working with contractors’ employees can create challenges, not to mention anxiety and hazards. If your workers share a jobsite with employees from another company, here’s a safety talk that provides a brief overview on how to ensure they’re also sharing the same commitment to safety. Before you deliver the talk, be prepared to give advice on what your workers should do if they observe an unsafe act or condition.

Safety Talk: Don’t Contract Out Personal Safety

Not everybody works the same, and it’s not uncommon for job procedures to vary from company to company. But when employees from different companies are sharing a jobsite, what cannot vary are the safety rules. If one worker is taking risks, it affects everyone on the site.

The key to working with another company’s employees is sharing the same commitment to safety and following the same rules. For example, both crews must understand proper lockout/tagout procedures and ensure that no one deviates from these protocols.

Here are some do’s and don’ts to follow when working with contractors’ employees.

Do:

• Communicate your actions. If you are preparing to weld and another worker is moving flammable materials nearby, communicate the hazards;
• Ensure both crews are aware of any hazardous chemicals on site and that material safety data sheets are available and understood;
• Show a contractor’s employees where first aid stations are located;
• Work together in identifying job hazards prior to every assignment;
• Keep the jobsite tidy by removing waste material that could pose tripping hazards; and
• Use the buddy system and watch over each other.

Don’t:

• Remove someone else’s lock or tag;
• Attempt to use equipment or machinery without authorization or training; and
• Take shortcuts in procedures.

Conclusion

If you observe an unsafe act or condition, you should either talk to the worker responsible or report it to your supervisor. If you don’t, a serious injury or fatality could result, and you may never forgive yourself. You can contract out a lot of things, but don’t contract out safety.

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