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Tag Archive: National Safety Council

  1. National Safety Month: Fall Safety and Prevention

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    Since the day we were founded in 1886, Knickerbocker Roofing has strived to play an active role in our community, providing comprehensive safety training and education. Specializing in slip and fall safety, our expert team is committed to enhancing overall safety in the roofing and construction sectors.

    While we focus on safety year-round, there is no better time to highlight our efforts and good safety practices than in June, National Safety Month. Organized by the National Safety Council (NSC), National Safety Month aims to raise awareness of safety practices in order to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities.

    This year, the first week of National Safety Month is centered on the theme “Stand Up to Falls” — particularly pertinent to our industry. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), falls are one of the most common causes of work-related injury and death. In the construction, contractor, and roofing industries, workers are regularly at risk of falls. OSHA lists a variety of fall-prevention safety regulations, but regulations are often overlooked — or ignored for the sake of expediency.

    With over 75-100 ongoing employees, Knickerbocker is proud to be a pillar of our community. It is our responsibility to keep both our employees,  customers — and by extension, our entire community — safe from the dangers of slips and falls. This is a responsibility we take very seriously.

    National Safety Month: Fall Safety and Prevention

    To help keep your employees safe, here are a few tips pulled straight from the Knickerbocker safety playbook:

    • Train all employees in safety procedures regularly (at the very least, annually).
    • Require employees to use all relevant safety gear at all times while on-site — no exceptions.
    • Focus on individual safety aspects (ex: scaffolding safety) to ensure workers have thorough knowledge of various measures.
    • Require compliance checks by project supervisors.
    • Have independent safety consultants perform regular site inspections.
    • Upgrade to modern equipment whenever possible.
    • Maintain equipment carefully, thoroughly, and regularly.

    These are just a few of the common-sense safety procedures we adhere to at Knickerbocker Roofing, and we urge you to follow them as well. Knickerbocker Roofing is working hard to promote National Safety Month both locally and nationally, as we consider it part of our job to reliably protect our workers and the community at large.

    Don’t forget to follow our blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn to stay up to date on company and industry news, or, to discuss your needs with a roofing specialist, contact us today.

  2. Knickerbocker Reviews Fall Safety this June

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    Worker safety is always at the forefront of what we do here at Knickerbocker Roofing. We want our employees to be aware and alert of the dangers they face on a regular basis and to work with us to reduce the possibility of an accident, minor or major.

    National Safety Month and OSHA Stand-Down

    Each June, the National Safety Council observes National Safety Month. While every month should take a look at safety, this month concentrates on increasing the awareness of leading safety and health risks in venues including the workplace, home, local community, and traffic. By providing materials including posters, tip sheets, and more, the NSC aims to educate about the leading causes of injury and death, and to reduce them.

    Just as important in our line of work is the OSHA Stand-Down event, which took place this year on May 2nd through the 6th. With the nature of our labor, fall safety is very important – particularly because falls are the leading cause of worker death and serious injury in the construction industry. Each year, the Stand-Down event involves having a toolbox talk or safety meeting for fall prevention and protection. OSHA’s goal this year was to reach 5 million workers throughout the Stand-Down week.

    Fall Protection

    Every day, our teams utilize practices to prevent falls. On a regular basis, we conduct safety inspections of our worksites and our employee practices and provide correction when needed. Utilizing the OSHA Fall Protection in Construction guidelines, we are constantly revamping our procedures to exceed the standards they advise. On top of practices, we also ensure the usage of the latest in fall prevention and protection equipment and make sure that it is properly maintained.

    Our Involvement

    At Knickerbocker, we participate in both National Safety Month and OSHA Stand Down by conducting safety meetings, discussing specific job hazards our employees face on a daily basis, and implementing response plans. Ways we work to improve employee safety include:

    • Annual Safety training program for all field and supervisory employees
    • Project safety inspections by independent safety consultants
    • Utilization of modern equipment, maintained for safe usage by our mechanics

    In a high-risk industry, you need to pay constant attention to safety. For the well-being of our employees, as well as the peace of mind of our customers, here at Knickerbocker Roofing and Paving we promise to continue to be involved in keeping our employees safe, and continue the programs that have earned us awards including the American Subcontractors Association Safety Award and the Chicago Roofing Contractors Association Safety Award. Join us for National Safety Month – along with the rest of the year – in an effort to make safety important in all aspects of work and home.

  3. How, Why, and When to Make Safety a Priority

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    June means a lot of things to a lot of people: Father’s Day, baseball games, rising temperatures, and the beginning of backyard barbecue season, to name a few.

    Yet there’s one thing that we can all universally celebrate this June, and it’s something that affects everyone. June is National Safety Month, and it’s an important reminder to work, play, and live safely.

    Whatever your job – it’s extremely important to be aware of safety practices. When you work in building management or construction… it’s critical.

    According to a 2012 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “construction accounted for the highest number of fatal work injuries of any industry sector.” Additional statistics in this report stated that fatal injuries in private construction increased by 5% in 2012.

    In any area of construction, workers and employers must emphasize safety. This, of course, means wearing all required safety gear, but also includes actively thinking about safety. It’s easy to get too comfortable and let certain practices go. This is exactly when accidents happen.

    In addition to remaining conscious of safe practices at all times, one way to ensure a safer workplace is to focus on individual aspects of safety throughout the month—i.e. scaffolding—and commit to ways of remaining safe within this area of focus. Another way is to make a checklist and follow it carefully.

    At Knickerbocker Roofing, we are highly concerned with worker safety; however, we realize that our industry is not always the safest, and as a result we encourage everyone to learn from the message of National Safety Month. Recent statistics have shown that roofing falls contributed to roughly one-third of all construction-related fall fatalities during the years of that specific study. To us, this underscores the importance of promoting this movement.

    No matter what you do exactly, or where you work, follow the message of the National Safety Council; make safety propriety in June, and every month thereafter.