As the owner of a small construction company, you should continuously be looking for ways to better your team. Not only can doing so improve efficiency, but it can also keep your team safe. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the areas in which you need to consider providing training for your team. Some of these may be refreshers, while others may be ideas that you’ve yet to think of.
Safety Standards
According to the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, nearly 5,150 workers died on the job in 2017. Of those deaths, one in five were in the construction industry. The most common causes of death in the construction industry were:
• Falls
• “Struck by Object”
• Electrocutions
• Caught-In/Between
With proper training, many of these accidents could have been avoided. Make sure that all of your employees are up to date on the latest OSHA standards and regulations. Furthermore, you should never let a new employee begin working until they’ve completed the proper training.
Medical Training
Even with safety training, some accidents are unavoidable. In these scenarios, you’ll want to make sure that your employees are aware of how to react. You should provide medical training to your employees, teaching them CPR and other similar techniques. Consider hosting an “off-site” day where employees don’t have to report to a job site and will instead learn life-saving medical techniques.
Conflict Resolution
When working under the hot sun in the middle of summer, disputes are bound to arise. Many small business construction owners train their managers on how to settle disputes between employees. However, we challenge you to provide this training to all employees. Doing so could help make employees more aware of how they act around one another, which could create a more hospitable work environment.
Offer To License Employees
Specific types of work may require unique licenses or permits. For instance, you may need to have a license to operate machinery like a crane or a forklift. Many small business owners will provide this training only to the individuals who will be working with these machines. However, you should consider offering this training to any employee who would like to receive it.
Having well-trained employees could be useful for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, if an accident were to occur, it’d be good knowing that someone else could take over. Similarly, if your original machine operator was to call out sick, you could have someone ready to fill his or her place, preventing costly project delays. Furthermore, offering to license your employees shows that you’re supportive of their career ambitions.
Administrative Training
If you are switching to a time clock app, you should not blindly implement the changes. Instead, you should teach your employees the benefits that a time clock app offers, such as the fact that it will streamline payroll and prevent them from getting lost on the way to the job site.
Taking the time to walk your employees through how to use a time clock app can reduce administrative headaches.