Utility Contractor Safety Program Assessment and Improvement Roadmap
ScottMadden helped a utility contractor assess its safety culture, training programs, and operational practices to develop targeted recommendations for improvement.
Challenge
A utility contractor faced a series of serious safety incidents, including a recent Serious Injury or Fatality (SIF) event. The organization needed to assess its safety culture, training programs, and operational practices to identify root causes and develop targeted recommendations for improvement. Inconsistent job hazard analysis (JHA) quality, gaps in onboarding processes, and varied safety enforcement across regions created risks that needed to be addressed. A comprehensive evaluation was required to enhance safety performance, standardize procedures, and prevent future incidents.
Process
- Supported Serious Injury and Fatality (SIF) Root Cause Analysis to determine systemic issues.
- Assessed Occupational Health & Safety (OHS), training programs, and operational learning methods.
- Conducted 30+ Field Observations and Crew-Level Assessments, reviewing JHA completion, work execution, and supervisor behaviors.
- Evaluated the effectiveness of onboarding and training processes for both new and experienced hires.
- Reviewed safety manual content and accessibility for field workers.
- Assessed equipment inspection, housekeeping practices, and PPE compliance.
Result
- Training and Onboarding: Standardized a core training curriculum, ensuring completion before field deployment. Integrated video-based and VR training modules for critical tasks.
- Job Hazard Analysis: Refined JHA procedures to emphasize critical hazards and ensure crews fully understood hazard mitigations.
- Safety Culture & Accountability: Improved supervisory training to enhance hazard identification, intervention, and decision-making. Developed a coaching-based safety audit process instead of punitive measures to encourage reporting of near misses.
- Operational Efficiency: Digitized and restructured the safety manual for mobile, including QR-coded links to micro-learning videos.
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