Daily Safety Huddles Highlight Hazards, Keep Crews on Track

“The safety huddles happen on every jobsite every morning before the start of the day,” says NFC member Pedro Loureiro, president of Nomad Framing in Monroe Township, New Jersey. “Our direct employees will meet at our job trailer before the start of the day, usually a quarter to seven and the safety huddle will last fifteen minutes.”

Pedro explains that the daily safety huddles are a way to plan for any potential hazards that should arise on the jobsite so they are prepared and everyone is on the same page. “It’s not a sit down meeting, just a stand up meeting like for football. You lay out a play and then take care of the play that’s called; it’s that same kind of concept. The project manager goes over potential hazards of the day so the entire team knows the means and methods to mitigate risk.”

While the safety huddle concept certainly helps focus on safety at each phase of the project, Pedro says that now they’re in the habit of meeting it’s also an ideal time check in and make sure the project is staying on track. “Before we wrap up the safety huddle we look at the schedule so the entire team knows the status of the project and where we’re at,” he says.

Nomad’s teams also use this time to determine who will be responsible for conducting safety checks such as checking everyone’s PPE and completing checklists, like FrameSAFE’s Stop & Fix. “The other important part is choosing a person that to be responsible for making sure the control access zone is set up properly and checking it throughout the day,” Pedro adds. This practice ensures that there is ongoing awareness of hazards despite changing jobsite conditions. “It could be as simple as it snowed last night and the temperature dropped and there is ice throughout the project,” he explains. “We set an accountable party this is checking those icy areas to make sure that we don’t have ice that’s going to cause a potential hazard.”

Nomad Framing also utilizes FrameSAFE’s Toolbox Talks to educate its crews on how to stay safe on the jobsite, “especially if we have a near miss or an incident or infraction,” says Pedro. He explains that, “if one of the guys is working and he’s using the ladder incorrectly and someone has to intervene, the next day we’ll pull out the Toolbox Talk so everyone on the team knows what to look out for and how to do it right so that it doesn’t get repeated.”

Daily huddles are an opportune time to discuss safety at every phase of the project and make sure the project is staying on track. If you’re not already involved in NFC’s FrameSAFE program, now is the time to subscribe and gain access to invaluable tools such as Toolbox Talks and safety checklists.