Are you proficient...or complacent?

by Clair Urbain

What are you working on today? Is the job at hand just about like every other job you’ve worked on in the last year? In the last five years?

In construction, locations change, but the work is much the same. The plans are different, but the steps to complete your part of the job are nothing new to you.

That’s important, because we are creatures of habit, and when we do the same job over and over, we become proficient . . . or complacent. There is a fine line between the two.

Doing a job proficiently includes an ongoing challenge for continuous improvement. Are you raising the bar on yourself?

In this issue, we explore how the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) works with contractors. What began as a challenge to make DuPont jobsites safer for workers has yielded additional benefits in better ways to complete jobs.

DuPont and area contractors developed the Partners In Safety (PINS) program. It has helped contractors achieve a recordable frequency rate on DuPont jobsites that is over 60 percent lower than the national average.

Those involved with PINS reached this impressive rate by rejecting the notion that average is acceptable. The PINS program inspired contractor Snyder, Crompton & Associates (SC&A) to develop best practices that help its workers think through jobs to complete them efficiently and safely. The foundation of these best practices can be found in the Job Plan and Safety Task Analysis and Work Crew forms featured on pages 20 and 22 of this issue.

The SC&A forms challenge supervisors and workers to think clearly about the job, resulting in fewer accidents and greater jobsite productivity.

Do you have a way to “challenge” yourself or those you work with? Think about what causes the most “pain” on your jobsite. What tasks are the most difficult to do? Which ones create the greatest amount of rework? Which are the most dangerous?

Once you identify your biggest pain-makers, you can challenge yourself to find the pain-killer. Inquire how others are addressing the problem. Or, ask suppliers and distributors questions. After all, they work with many contractors and may have a solution for you.

Attacking your biggest areas of pain will help you move from complacency to proficiency. It’s a challenge we all need to take on.

Published in the May/June 2001 issue of Contractor Tools and Supplies magazine.

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