CROM Safety Spotlight

Nina is a Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) representative for CROM. Through her work to create a safe work environment for her field teams, she has earned multiple job-site safety awards, which she attributes to high expectations, communication, and dedication to the safety standards.

Sum up in a sentence or a couple sentences “why is safety so important?”

Safety is our moral responsibility. It is the key to our success. As we place safety first, our team members realize that CROM is not just a job but it’s a company that we invest our lives in. We value our team members and their families. Safety protects our clients.

What are some of the educational practices CROM uses when it comes to safety? How do we train people in safety?

We are one team. We provide coaching, recognition, and mentorship on a peer-to-peer level. We enforce online training videos and tests. We educate through our Toolbox Talks held weekly, sometimes even daily. We perform task specific Activity Hazard Analysis which educates on the steps of the job, potential hazards, and actions to eliminate or minimize hazards. We highlight a single topic monthly, to keep knowledge refreshed, through our newsletter. We place an importance on reporting near misses and use them as an educational tool. We enforce “stretch and flex” in the morning and after lunch.

What is a “toolbox talk”?

A Toolbox Talk is leadership educating and empowering our team members to focus on health and safety. A Toolbox Talk is a gathering of all team members on the project for discussion and interaction on specific topics that guide our team members through preventing hazards on the job.

Do you feel like leadership impacts the way team members view safety?

Most definitely! Leadership is the driving force. We lead by example; we set the tone. We must demonstrate a commitment to workplace safety, clearly communicating through actions. 

How does CROM make it clear that safety is every employee’s core responsibility? 

Through education, coaching, recognition, mentorship on a peer-to-peer level, and making sure everyone has a voice, especially when it comes to safety.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about safety at CROM?

We truly believe that our greatest resource is our team, and we are committed to getting everyone home safely. Safety is our moral responsibility. Safety is the heart of everything we do, and there is no other way to execute a project.

How does CROM prepare people for jobsite safety?

New team members are required to go through a New Hire training program and complete a comprehensive list of safety training prior to being able to set foot on the jobsite. New team members are then placed in a 90-day shadowing program and everyone on the team assists with their safety training.

What goes in to creating a safety award winning job site?

It takes amazing leadership, dedication, team unity, outstanding communication, as well as going above and beyond what our client requires. It takes polishing and praising your team. It takes focusing on safety 24/7.

Felix is a Health, Safety, Environment Regional Coordinator. Felix originally started working for CROM on a field team in 2015, but has been working in Health, Safety, and Environment since November 2020. 

Sum up in a sentence or a couple sentences “why is safety so important?”

Safety must be important because providing a safe and healthy workplace helps protect our team members from injuries or even illnesses.

What does safety at CROM mean to you?

Safety at CROM is at the core of CROM and is implemented in everything we do. It’s a family trait that always reminds me that my health and safety is always valued here at CROM.

Do you feel like leadership impacts the way team members view safety?

Yes, it definitely impacts the way our team sees safety. If our leaders at CROM do not view safety as the most important thing, how can we ask our guys to?

Do you feel like CROM’s leadership is proactive in encouraging team members to put safety practices first? Can you give some examples how?

Yes, our Supers hold safety talks every single morning. We do stretch and flex in the morning and after lunch to make sure our guys are ready for the workday. Every meeting that we hold, safety is always the first topic.

Would you say that safety at CROM is every employee’s core responsibility?

Yes. So, here at CROM we preach that safety is everybody’s job, right? And with that being said, all the employees know that they have what we call a “stop work” authority. So, let’s say they are working on something, and they don’t feel safe, or they see something that’s not being done right, they can speak up and say, “Hey, this isn’t right,” and then they stop work, right? We’re not going to make them do something they don’t feel safe doing.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about safety at CROM?

The first thing that comes to mind when I think safety at CROM is its employees and the employees’ loved ones and doing everything that needs to be done to get them home safely.

How does CROM prepare people for jobsite safety?

The moment a new hire walks on site we make sure they complete all their new hire training our guys do not even touch a tool unless their training has been completed after that our new hires will shadow a experienced employee until we are confident they understand the job and can work safely.