Safe Practices from the Top Down
June 29, 2010 – "In our line of
work, there are not too many second chances," said Dennis Kenna, president of
Pineville, N.C.-based tower crane
company Heede Southeast, as he
addressed and thanked his entire crew for its continued focus on best practices
during the company's first major safety meeting. While many companies review
safe practices only after an accident or injury, the impetus behind Heede's
event was quite the opposite. The company has been injury-free thus far in 2010,
and the seminars and education sessions, held in conjunction with National
Safety Month, were developed to show how much the company appreciated its
employees' attention to safety.
According to Mike
Kenna, the company's lead erector, shortcuts can cause accidents, and an event
that focuses on the well-being of all employees—from yard workers to technicians
to erectors—was incentive for the team to stay safe. "Even in hard times,
setting aside a whole day for safety shows how important safety is to the
company," he said. Throughout the meeting, Heede's crew participated in
discussions with a rigging expert from Certex. Additionally, they listened to the
local AGC chapter's safety director who
presented on the use of fall protection during tower crane erection and a
speaker from OSHA as he touched on the topic
of arc flashes that can occur in the crane's electrical panel. Not only did
Heede's team refresh its skills, but it also took away new information that
could potentially save lives.
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Enlarge Image
Heede's
staff listened as the local AGC chapter's safety director presented on fall
protection in the crane
standards.
| Although the event was
billed as the company's "first major" safety event, this is far from the truth.
Speaking with Dennis Kenna and safety director Mike Hundley, it was clear that
safety best practices have been consistent throughout the company's history. As
one of the first U.S. tower crane companies to offer turnkey packages, including
erection, dismantling, parts, and service, Heede's team has been issued a range
of certifications to help safely bring these offerings to its customers,
including OSHA 10-Hour, rigging, operator, and erection cards. Additionally,
Hundley said that someone on the crew with CPR training is always on the
jobsite. When companies focus on safety, Dennis said word gets around and it
becomes free advertising for the company. He added that there is nothing he is
more proud of than interviewing for a project and being recognized by the
contractor's safety director for the accident and injury prevention
programs in place at Heede Southeast.
Broadened
reach
While safety
practices are a constant for Heede, the company has been looking at ways to
expand its business in the uncertain U.S. construction market. Its solution was
to established the Heede Lonestar
Division this year in Houston, Texas, in order to serve customers in the
south. In addition to construction, Heede Lonestar is focusing on ports,
shipyards, power plants, energy plants, and applications where a tower crane may
better fit a contractor's needs rather than a large crawler crane, which may be
more expensive to rent.
On the East Coast,
the majority of Heede's work has been in institutional construction like
colleges, universities, and health care facilities. Like many crane owners,
Dennis does not expect construction to pick up until at least 2012 and in the
meantime has been subjected to price wars. Dennis said that Heede is maintaining
its credibility even during hard times, and the company approaches its
reliability and authenticity as a business unit with the same veracity as its
safety program. "We feel our integrity is worth a couple thousand more dollars,"
he said. "We won't give into the price wars."
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