The Iron Workers (IW), with the help of IMPACT, invests millions of dollars in safety training and developing innovative safety programs. Safety has always been a priority for the organization, and the Ironworker Safety Director Training Course is one of its latest and most popular safety initiatives.
As part of its Zero Incident Campaign and commitment to workplace safety and health, the IW developed the Ironworker Safety Director Training Course to raise the standard of safety performance. It was developed in response to contractors, owners and safety consulting firms expressing interest in employing ironworkers qualified to oversee safety duties and responsibilities as company safety directors.
The Ironworker Safety Director Training Course is a 30-hour training course with nine instructors and offered to ironworkers and contractors as a benefit of being an IMPACT participant.
It takes additional training and new skill sets to assume the role of a corporate safety director and manage safety programs for several projects. There are many safety measures that must be routinely implemented to help recognize and prevent workplace hazards. This 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 subject matter experts and experienced Ironworker safety directors. They learn the “ins and outs” of a contractor health and safety management system, including development, administration, implementation, and maintenance.
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?,” asked IW District Representative of Safety and Diversity and U.S. Safety Coordinator Vicki O’Leary. “They know the job and they know the dangers, and we have them bridge that gap between safety and the workers.” Many course graduates have become successful company safety directors across the United States and Canada.
Since its conception in July 2016, 248 ironworkers and contractor safety personnel have completed this course and over 90 have registered for the next course in Toronto, Ontario, in May. Additional courses are being scheduled in Detroit and Philadelphia this year due to popular demand.
“I had no idea what it takes to represent not only the company but men and women who are depending on your decisions,” said Dave Otey, an ironworker from IW Local 229 (San Diego) and corporate safety manager with Rebar International. “It’s important to be able to take our best practices and show that we have the capacity to take care of our own, and the safety process is the key.”
For more information, visit www.ironworkers.org or call (202) 383-4800.
