People are fallible and human error often causes accidents, so assessing worker performance is an important part of maintaining a safe work environment. Incidents can be avoided by understanding what contributes to human error and impacts safety.
All the features in this issue of Safety Leader look at different aspects of the human element.
In “No Compromises,” Claire Swedberg interviews several contractors about how they used their initiative to solve the problem of bringing safe, temporary power to the job site.
In “The Power of Teamwork,” Marlena Chertock takes us to Centennial Park in downtown Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Electrical contractor Hilscher-Clarke worked quickly and safely to finish the project honoring the NFL’s 100th anniversary. However, the pandemic delayed the opening ceremony.
Our final feature is a forum for company leaders to explain how they preempt and deal with predictable, manageable and preventable human error and protect their workers. Read about how they lead by example in “Safety From the Top Down,” by Susan Bloom.
Three factors in the construction industry contribute to safety risks. Workforce shortages due to retirements mean experienced people with superior skillsets are leaving the field. Training new of workers takes longer than the time to complete an apprenticeship program. Finally, the amount of overtime hours an employee is required to work directly impacts productivity and increases risk because of exhaustion.
This issue completes the first year of Safety Leader, in which we brought you close to 100 pages of award-winning, valuable, safety-centric information. In fact our February issue earned a 2020 American Inhouse Editorial Design Award from Graphic Design USA. We hope you have found it useful, interesting and thought-provoking. Safety is not just our duty or yours. Everyone needs to take responsibility and model their own safe behavior to raise the safety level of an office, a job site and a family.
About The Author
Michael Johnston
NECA Executive Director of Codes and Standards (retired)JOHNSTON, who retired as NECA’s executive director of codes and standards in 2023, is a former member and chair of NEC CMP-5 and immediate past chair of the NEC Correlating Committee. Johnston continues to serve on the NFPA Standards Council and the UL Electrical Council. Reach him at [email protected].
Julie Mazur
Managing Editor, Electrical Contractor magazineJulie Mazur is the managing editor of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR, Safety Leader and Line Contractor magazines. Before coming to ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR, she was an editor at Knight-Ridder/Tribune newspapers and the Los Angeles Times and taught English as a foreign language in Egypt and Japan. As managing editor, Julie oversees the whole publishing arc. She plans and assigns the stories for every issue, works with writers and designers and interacts with the printing plant. She has a mass communications B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. Go Bears!
Permanently retired from ziplining, Julie is an enthusiastic sports spectator and radio listener. She likes to read, exercise and cook.
