If you live in Iowa, chances are you have seen one of these banners on a construction site as you pass by. But, do you know why it is there? No, it’s not a new construction company taking Iowa by storm. It actually is there to announce to the public that the job site is taking extra measures towards the safety of all workers on site.
WORKSAFE is a program that was created through a partnership between Iowa OSHA and Master Builders of Iowa in 2012. The groups wanted to come up with an additional way for construction companies to put the focus on safety on their job sites, and ended up with the nation’s first safety program involving a public-private partnership.
WORKSAFE is a construction job site safety program that consists of pre-construction planning, job site surveys focused on preventing hazardous conditions from occurring and job site recognition that safety is a top priority for all involved in the project. Companies can’t just order a WORKSAFE banner to be put on display at their job site. They have to submit an application to MBI and Iowa OSHA Consultation for each job site that they want to be enrolled in the program. Once enrolled, they then pay a fee that covers pre-construction safety planning, job site surveys by both MBI and Iowa OSHA Consultation safety professionals, project recognition, and 24/7 access to construction safety professionals for the duration of the project.
So from now on when you see one of those orange and gray banners on a construction site, know that the contractors on that project are going one step further to ensure the safety of all those working on site.
If you are interested in learning more about the WORKSAFE program, please contact Tom Suckow at tsuckow@mbionline.com or (515) 657-4384.
