How big is a half million? When it comes to the matter of safety, it’s huge!
by Steve Hudson
How big is a half million?
Well, a half million yard sticks laid end to end would stretch about 234 miles – just about enough to get you from Atlanta to Nashville, if you hanker to be a star. Impressive!
How about a half million pennies? It would come to $50,000. That’s impressive too – but it would be hard to carry around. But it’s more impressive.
Or maybe you’d rather think in terms of chocolate chip cookies. If you had a half million of ‘em and ate three a day, they’d last you more than 450 years. That’s more impressive still! 
But Cherri Watson, Director of Safety, Education & Workforce Development for the Georgia Branch, AGC, has an altogether different take on the matter of a half million. She’s thinking in terms of people – specifically, the number of people who have benefited from the on-site safety training presented across the state by the Georgia Branch, AGC’s Site Safety Van.
In fact, a half million people trained is exactly the milestone Georgia Branch, AGC Site Safety Van Program reached this week. Since 1984, the van has been taking the word on jobsite safety to Georgia construction sites – but this week the site safety van program delivered that message to its 500,000th person.
“A half million people,” Cherri noted Tuesday during an early-morning safety meeting on a Turner Construction jobsite in Atlanta. She was there along with loss control specialist Josh Conrey, one of the two Site Safety Van operators, to celebrate that milestone.
“A half million people!” she said again. “Now that’s significant. That’s huge!”
A Quarter Century of Jobsite Safety
The Georgia Branch, AGC site safety van program got its start about 25 years ago, in 1984, when the Georgia Branch received the OSHA grant which helped fund the program’s launch. The concept was simple: Outfit a van with a VCR, a television, and a selection of taped safety programs, then take the van and its message of jobsite safety to Georgia Branch member construction sites around the state. The van’s operator would be a loss control specialist who could put the video programs in context to the ongoing activity at a particular jobsite, and Andy Gereb was the first one to wear the title. The first presentation was at a Batson-Cook project site that very same year.
From the beginning, the site safety van was a hit. Contractor members from throughout the state were soon calling Georgia Branch headquarters to arrange for a visit from the van.
Georgia Branch, AGC found its van to be in big demand. At each presentation, participants would sign in – and later that day the van’s driver and resident safety trainer would summarize the van’s work and add up the numbers. The total got larger and larger, and the number of people trained by van-based programs grew steadily.
By the end of 1997 it was becoming clear that a milestone was approaching. The cause for celebration would be the training of the van’s 100,000th individual “customer,” and suddenly the numbers were under the microscope. Closely following the totals, Cherri– at that time the Georgia Branch, AGC’s Safety Services Associate Director – determined that the 100,000th attendee would likely be trained sometime in February. And as the month moved ahead, the date was narrowed down more and more.
Reaching That First Milestone
Finally came Feb. 17, 1998 – the day on which that 100,000th individual would attend a Site Safety Van presentation. The jobsite where the milestone was finally reached turned out to be a Foster & Company General Contractors, Inc. LaQuinta Inn construction site.
The morning dawned wet and rainy. But Doug Froemke, of Sedgwick of Georgia, wasn’t going to let a little weather interfere. Along with Cherri, he set up the van and prepared for the presentation. The topic was fall protection. And once the workers had gathered around the van, Cherri announced the occasion and told the group that one of them would be recognized as the 100,000th person to receive site safety van training. The lucky individual turned out to be Javier Fenorio, who received a one-of-a-kind all-season jacket embroidered with the Georgia Branch, AGC emblem to mark the occasion. Others present received special commemorative tee shirts bearing a picture of the van and the words “I was there for the 100,000th!” Meanwhile, Cherri presented a special commemorative plaque to David Lamb, Foster & Company’s safety director, and to Landon Boyd, the contractor’s site superintendent on the LaQuinta project.
Imagine that – 100,000 people trained. That’s impressive. But as they say in Hollywood, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Target: The Half Million Mark
Reaching that first milestone took about 14 years. During that time demand for the van’s services grew steadily, and the Georgia Branch, AGC soon found itself keeping not one, but two safety vans on the road. Currently, two vans travel the state full-time. One of them, operated by Safety Consultant Josh Conrey, serves projects in the Atlanta area. The second van, manned by Wayne Hurst, serves projects elsewhere in Georgia - from one end of the state to the other. Both vans maintain a full calendar of jobsite visits, and their constant activity means the number of workers trained was growing at an ever-increasing rate.
Could another milestone be far away? Cherri and the Georgia Branch Safety Committee watched as the “number served” total climbed steadily. And even though it took a while to reach the 100,000 mark, it eventually became clear that the next milestone – the half-million mark – would not take nearly so long to reach.
Again, a close eye on the totals revealed that the magic number was approaching. Eventually it was possible to say that it would be reached sometime in 2009...and then sometime in the spring of 2009...and then sometime in late April or early May.
Finally, it became apparent that the half millionth worker would be trained during the week of May 4 – and plans for a celebration were already in the works!
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| Compliments of CompTrust AGC MCIC, each jobsite employee who participates in a Site Safety Van program during the week of May 4 receives a commemorative T-Shirt. AGC expects to train nearly 2,000 people this week. |
“For this milestone,” Cherri said, “we decided to have a week-long celebration all across the state.” The vans continued their regular busy schedule, but at each stop during the half-million-mark week a special announcement was made to mark the occasion. Commemorative tee shirts were distributed, pictures were taken, hands were shaken – and from one end of the state to the other Georgia Branch, AGC members celebrated the accomplishments and impacts of this program that started a quarter century ago.
Riding With The Van
The half-million-mark week was indeed a busy one. In Atlanta, for instance, one day’s schedule went something like this.
The day began about 6:30 a.m. at a Turner Construction Company project site in Atlanta as workers began to gather for the morning’s safety meeting presentation. Shawn Knight, Turner’s safety manager on the project, made smooth work of organizing the close to 500 workers on the project, moving them into position for what would be a presentation on hand safety.
Meanwhile, as the crowd assembled, Josh maneuvered the Georgia Branch, AGC safety van into position for optimum viewing of its built-in wide-screen projection TV screen. A quick test confirmed the van’s public address system was up and running smoothly.
Bringing Home the Safety Message
Just before the presentation, Shawn commented on the many benefits of having the van visit this site, which it has been doing regularly for quite a while.
“We appreciate the fact that Georgia Branch, AGC has been here for us,” he said, adding that the project is “way below” the national average incident rate and that he believes the van and its mobile safety message are part of the reason why.
“We feel that the safety van has a direct positive impact on the workers,” Shawn adds. “We have a strong commitment to safety, and seeing the safety van out here underscores our commitment.
Jim Waugaman, Turner’s corporate safety director, echoed those thoughts.
“We use the site safety van on quite a few of our projects,” he said, adding that a valuable part of the van’s role is that it underlines the message of safety. “Our workers hear it from us day in and day out,” he continued, “but hearing it from another voice further reinforces that message.”
Jim adds that the van’s bilingual capability is a plus. Most of the safety programs in the van’s library are available in both English and Spanish, allowing the word on safety to reach speakers of each language. And where a Spanish-language version is not available, adds Josh, an interpreter may be used to translate the message so that communication effectiveness is assured.
With the presentation set-up complete, Cherri takes the microphone and greets the group. She tells them about the half-million mark, talks about its significance, and grins as a spontaneous cheer erupts from the assembled workers.
Five hundred people cheering at 7 a.m. is not easy to ignore, and Cherri’s grin grows bigger.
On to the Next Stop
Five hundred workers is a large group, but the site safety van safety consultants do not worry about crew size when planning and sharing their presentations. A smaller crew gets the same degree of attention as a larger one, as seen at the van’s next stop – a Gay Construction Company project just a short distance down the road. On the way, Josh’s cell phone rings. It’s Wayne, who operates the other van, and the two consult over a point or two of safety training.
After arriving at the Gay Construction site Josh talks about his multi-faceted role as the van driver, a loss control specialist and program presenter – he is also a site inspector for CompTrust AGC Mutual Captive Insurance Company (MCIC), the Georgia Branch, AGC’s workers’ compensation program.
“When we visit a jobsite of a CompTrust AGC policy holder,” he says, “we often do a jobsite inspection.” These complimentary and extremely comprehensive inspections help identify any areas that might need attention, he adds, and further enhance site safety.
But that’s only part of the job. Besides driving (and maneuvering) the vans – not a minor task on some of the tighter jobsites in the state! – Josh and Wayne also act as consultants, often helping the contractor personnel select the most suitable program for each jobsite and each unique set of work conditions. On the Gay Construction site, for example, the focus is on personal protective equipment.
“Our workers like the programs,” says Monroe Bowen, a veteran superintendent with 26 years of experience. “They enjoy them,” he adds.
After the presentation, Josh continues to talk about his multifaceted role.
“Sometimes we have to be an audio technician,” he says with a grin. Sometimes the role is one of master scheduler as the van operators work with Georgia Branch, AGC staff member Liz Garrison scheduling visits around the ever-changing activity on most sites. And sometimes, he adds, he or Wayne must even serve as un-sticker of stuck vans – especially if conditions are muddy.
But most of all, he says, the van operators are safety instructors. And that’s the heart of the job: to deliver the message on safety in a useful and memorable way.
Keeping the Family Safe
Next stop: A Gilbane Building Company project, where crews are working on a parking deck structure. With foundation work essentially complete, the project is beginning to go vertical – so the focus of this particular site safety van presentation will be fall protection.
Sinue Tinoco, Gilbane’s safety manager, meets the van as it pulls onto the site. “We have just begun working on those columns,” he says, pointing toward rebar cages that are reaching skyward, “so fall protection is a timely topic.”
Like other safety professionals met during the course of the morning, Sinue notes the crews on the company’s projects “really enjoy the visits from the safety van.” They don’t mind taking time for the presentations, he says, “because they know it’s for their own benefit.”
The particular presentation used at this site is in English only, so Sinue – who is fluent in Spanish – translates for the Spanish-speaking workers on the site.
Later, Sinue points out the site safety van program is a perfect complement to the company’s “Gilbane Cares” program.
“We like to treat everybody on the site like they are family,” he says, “and you want your family to be safe.”
One More Before Lunch 
The final stop before lunch – although by no means the final stop for the day – is at a New South Construction Co. jobsite.
“What are we going to present today?” Josh asks after greeting Dennis Remington, the project’s superintendent.
Dennis considers the options in light of the demands of this particular site, a dormitory building for a large college.
Looking over a list of video titles “I think we’ll do number 32,” he says – a program on stairway and ladder safety. This particular program is available in both English and Spanish, and both versions will be presented to the multilingual gathering of crew members.
“The safety van program is fantastic,” says Chuck Mann, New South’s corporate safety director. He added that it enhances the company’s existing safety program. “The safety van program provides good additional training that further feeds the message to our employees and subs and helps to keep safety in the forefront of their minds.”
Meeting Challenges and Meeting Needs
As Josh organizes the sign-in sheets from the morning meetings and gets ready for his afternoon schedule of site visits, he takes a moment to talk further about the site safety van program.
“The most popular programs are those having to do with fall protection and ladder safety, plus those on OSHA personal protective equipment requirements or on scaffolding.”
“And as summer gets here,” adds Cherri, “dealing with heat and handling heat illnesses becomes more and more popular too.”
The programs continue to pay off, too. “Incident rates on projects that use the safety 
vans are much lower than those seen on other projects,” Josh says.
Oh and let’s not forget the best part, the site safety van programs are available to Georgia Branch, AGC members at no charge as a regular members benefit. The payback is quick, real, and measurable in terms of dollars and cents.
But the biggest payback is enhanced safety. As Josh put it during one of the morning programs, “We’ve all got families, right? Well, our goal is to make sure that you go home to them every day after work – just as safe as when you came to work in the morning.”
