Life Safety & Security January 2021

the work area. It may be safer to work after hours when you are free of
employees and customers in your workspace.
Personal Protective Equipment
The final line of protection is the use of personal protective equipment.
This protection is used when the risk cannot be reduced enough to
provide a safe working environment for the worker. Restoration
companies use the full range of PPE offered such as fall protection
devices, hazardous material suits and full respiratory protection to
confined space gear.
Remember that OSHA requires you to complete a PPE Hazard
Assessment. We will discuss this in part 2.
Safety Drives Profits
Safety is a double-edged sword that can bring your company to its
knees if you don’t respect it, or it can increase your average margin
when you do. If a contractor fails to protect their staff and their
customers, they increase their risk and increase the liability that the
business will incur losses and fines as a result. However, there is a
dramatic swing that happens when safety is incorporated in the jobsite.
The company that follows regulations and follows the laws surrounding
safety, can charge for those processes to be followed and dramatically
reduce the potential for fines and work stoppages. This increases
profitability while also reducing the risk to your business and your staff.
A company’s safety strategy is the single most effective part of
protecting your bottom line and your reputation of protecting their
workers and clients.
Become a Power Restorer
In order to move up in the game from residential small losses to
medium sized commercial claims and then into the medical, large
industrial and large commercial jobs you need to be safety minded. It is
your job to look professional and keep control of the worksite. You can’t
be standing in the firing line with lame excuses as to why you didn’t
follow the Hierarchy of Controls or made the choice to not abide by
OSHA when it is your job as a contractor to follow the laws and your
workers.
If you haven’t taken the IICRC Health and Safety Technician course, I
recommend that you sign-up for one today. This should be one of the
first courses you take, because every decision about your use of
products and processes you deploy should be safe for the workers and
occupants of the project.
January - 2021