Experts in Workers' Compensation will often say how important it is that a company's senior-management team support safety initiatives. At Limbach Facility Services, they'd be preaching to the choir. Its CEO, Charlie Bacon, is intensely passionate about safety.
How would Bacon respond to a CEO peer who says, “Charlie, of course safety is important, but it's really not an issue that should be a primary focus for us…”?
“All CEOs talk about people being our number-one asset,” Bacon says. “But we need to not just talk the talk but walk the walk. If people know the CEO really cares about their safety, that you give a damn, they will care immensely—and outcomes will improve as people put in extra effort.
“Quality control is enormously important on a construction site—when you're building a high-rise, for example,” he continues. “Redos cost us a lot of money—they are one of our biggest and most-expensive [General Liability] risks.”
Since implementing its “We Care!” safety program in 2004 shortly after Bacon assumed the top slot, Limbach's workmanship “has gone up dramatically,” he says. “People love working for us, and they take great care in watching what they're doing.”
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