AGC Georgia Safety Stand Down focusing on Haz Com 2012
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Beginning at 7 am on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 jobsite employees were asked to join site leadership and stop working to participate in AGC Georgia's Safety Stand Down focusing on Hazard Communication Standard 2012 (HCS 2012). This stand down is the 12th program AGC Georgia and members of the Safety and Health Committee have developed or co-sponsored. These programs benefit personnel working throughout the United States.
Since the inception of this program, over 170,000 construction industry employees in Georgia and dozens of other states have participated in at least one Safety Stand Down. These individuals are better prepared to be safe workers after learning key safety topics AGC Georgia provides to project managers and superintendents who are charged with leading Stand Down tool box talks on their jobsites.
The following materials are available for participating firms:
What is a Stand Down?
Companies who know the value of safety training use a Safety Stand Down to stop all work and provide a focused safety toolbox talk meeting on one day, at the same time, on one particular topic. This meeting provides effective communication of safety policies, goals and expectations to all levels of a worksite team.
While stand downs are commonly used in the military, in respect to AGC Georgia's involvement and our construction industry members, they are not new to our industry. Fellow AGC chapters across America regularly organize them for their contractor members and many national contractors also include these in their safety program.
AGC Georgia and our Stand Down partners, OSHA and CompTrust AGC Mutual Captive Insurance Company (MCIC) believe there is tremendous value in committing 5 minutes to one hour of your workday to talk about safety, leading to increased employee morale. Stopping to talk about safety brings it to the forefront of everyone's mind! It is very important to communicate your firm's safety message to front line workers who constitute the largest group of our industry's workforce.
Why is the focus for this Safety Stand Down on HCS 2012?
The first compliance date of the revised HCS 2012 is December 1, 2013. By that time employers must have trained their workers on the new label elements and the Safety Data Sheet (SDS) format. This training is needed early in the transition process since workers are already beginning to see the new labels and SDSs on the chemicals in their workplace. To ensure employees have the information they need to better protect themselves from chemical hazards in the workplace during the transition period, it is critical that employees understand the new label and SDS formats.
For more information on AGC Georgia's Safety Stand Down Programs, please contact Cherri Watson, AGC Georgia's Director of Safety, Education and Workforce Development at 678-298-4104.