The Ironworker Safety Director Training Course (IWSDTC) revolutionizing safety management on the jobsite was developed to address incident trends and improve the standard of safety performance. Funded by IMPACT, the Iron Workers (IW) employer-ironworker partnership, it was launched in response to contractors, owners and safety consulting firms expressing interest in employing qualified ironworkers with hands-on experience to manage safety on the jobsite as company safety directors.
It takes special safety training and new skill sets to assume the role of a corporate safety director and manage safety programs for companies. The course focuses on routine safety responsibilities set forth by federal, state or provincial, local and contractual standards. Participants learn about the responsibilities of a safety director from seasoned subject matter experts.
Project owners and contractors find the course extremely valuable in preventing injuries and fatalities on the jobsite and reducing costly delays. "We don't want our workers to rely on the contractors to provide safety training," said Chris Fought of General Motors at the Iron Workers-IMPACT Safety and Health Roundtable in Washington D.C. last year. "I'm really glad that the Iron Workers prepare workers with productive training courses like the Ironworker Safety Director Training."
"Ironworker Safety Director Course is a godsend," said Red Cedar Steel President Pete Hayes at the roundtable meeting. "It really makes a difference to have an ironworker managing safety on the jobsite."
Ironworkers make the best safety directors, as they have hands-on experience in doing the work they manage and have an intimate understanding of the hazards. It allows them to combine their work experience with new safety skills. "Who better to take care of safety than an ironworker?" said IW Executive Director of Safety and Health Steve Rank. "They know the job and they know the dangers, and we have them bridge that gap between safety management and the workers." Many course graduates have become successful company safety directors in the U.S. and Canada.
"Having the opportunity to be an ironworker safety director and overseeing safety is a huge responsibility that I take very seriously," said Dave Otey, a 30-year ironworker veteran, IWSDTC instructor and regional safety manager with Rebar International Inc. "To have the opportunity to apply 30 years of experience, best practices I have learned over the years as an ironworker safety director and instructor, is just incredible. It's ironworkers leading ironworkers, and they respect and listen to each other."
"Safety is everyone's job," said IW General President Eric Dean, addressing the class in Toronto in May. "We want every ironworker to go home safe every day, and we think it's a realistic expectation. I can't think of a better way to do it than ironworkers looking after ironworkers."
Indeed, safety is everyone's job. The only way to effectively enforce safety regulations is to make it a part of the culture where everyone feels invested and ironworker safety directors are driving that cultural change. The IWSDTC is now in its second year and has been a tremendous success.
For more information, visit www.ironworkers.org.
