It’s Up to All of Us to Practice Safety
05/11/2020
Perlo is a leader in the construction industry by addressing safety on all fronts – especially through this time of COVID-19. By embedding safe work practices into all of our daily activities, including the extra regulations to protect against the virus, we know that as a company and an industry, we can emerge with improved jobsite practices, strong morale, and healthy crews.
Safety is about more than a checklist or wearing the right equipment. It’s engrained in the Perlo Way and is part of how we look out for each other and serve our communities. Safety is something we take very seriously and have been addressing with appropriate changes in how we do things.
Safety is up to all of us and is the right thing to do. This ties into our core values, the first of which is to “Do what’s right.” By doing what’s right, we’ve been able to keep nearly 400 people in Oregon and Washington employed, as well as countless subcontractors and suppliers.
Safety on the jobsites.
Our partners have definitely noticed our attention to safety. As Scott Brimhall, General Foreman for Sturgeon Electric shares, “The Perlo Construction team, headed up by Lance Livingston, have done a great job of implementing and adhering to safety protocols. Everyone feels safe and morale is great. We truly appreciate the effort.”
The importance of clear communications.
Clear communication is the key to ensuring there are no surprises. We pride ourselves on taking a proactive approach, including sharing copies of our job hazard analyses and action plans on all of our work sites with both workers and clients. In addition, we’ve built a visible COVID-19 safety campaign on each jobsite. Through multiple banners and signs we spell out new policies and procedures so that everyone feels comfortable.
As Dennis Bonin, our Safety Manager, shares, “We have adapted to individual requirements of jobsites as well as meeting all of the State of Washington and State of Oregon safety policies. That’s been kind of a challenge to navigate, but certainly, we’re up to it. Our goal is to go beyond the requirements and be out in front of them!”
Safety as part of our culture.
At Perlo, safety is rooted in who we are as a culture. A key part of our safety program is encouraging our employees to speak up about any safety issues they see. This is particularly true now. Through this time, there are many unknowns. We make sure that our employees feel heard and that we’re actually taking action to address their concerns.
A key to staying up and running and supporting our teams is to explore all avenues for safety measures and to continue to stay ahead of the curve as we receive new information or approach new work tasks.
Our Safety Manager, Dennis, and our General Superintendent, Joe York, make sure to have ongoing conversations with OSHA consultants. By doing so, the Perlo team is able to implement a practical and realistic approach towards safety and the implementation of rules and regulations. As an example, Dennis and Joe created a solution for instances where employees can’t maintain a six-foot distance. For these unique instances, the Perlo Safety Team develops specific plans, and generally requires long sleeve shirts, safety glasses, a face covering, and gloves.
Support for our people.
We understand that as our people continue to come to work on a day-to-day basis, they may have different stressors or anxieties depending on how the situation moves at this challenging time.
To help employees cope with the COVID crisis, we’ve launched a #PerloStrong internal campaign. Lunches, produce boxes, sweatshirts, and stress-relief balls are just part of our response. We’re also stepping up our internal communications through the launch of our weekly “Perlo Post” which helps us reiterate our appreciation for all Perlo team members as well as keeping them apprised of ways they can get involved and be part of the solution.
Safety makes us strong.
Dennis and his team have implemented processes that ensure each superintendent stays in regular communication with a member of our Perlo Safety Team. Working closely together, they determine the risks and research ways to execute on tasks in the safest way possible. In short, safety is always the number one factor in everything Perlo does.
We commend Dennis and his team as well as all of our field and office workers for their continued commitment to safety. This foundation will keep us strong today and into the future.