Balfour Beatty Launches New Safety Orientation Video

DALLAS, Texas — Balfour Beatty Construction US has launched its new Zero Harm safety orientation video designed to help make safety personal by featuring trades professionals on a live construction site and following team members at home with their families to reinforce what's most important — going home safe every day. With 828 U.S. construction worker fatalities in 2013, according to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, Balfour Beatty's new video campaign aligns with its commitment to accepting nothing less than zero harm for anyone coming into contact with its work.

Produced in both English and Spanish to best resonate with today's workforce, the videos support Balfour Beatty project teams" employee and subcontractor project orientation training. Both videos center on vignettes highlighting nine safety principles that address the most common safety challenges Balfour Beatty project teams encounter. Those situations include distracted driving; personal protective equipment; restricted areas; working at height; unsupported ground; energy sources; equipment limits; protective arrangements and clean work areas. And because making safety personal isn"t reserved just for the construction site, each vignette addresses one of the nine safety principles and how it impacts our lives in both the construction and home environments.

“Our new safety orientation video takes a fresh approach to helping our project teams and subcontractor partners truly embrace a safety culture focused on positive, proactively safe behaviors,” said Steve Smithgall, senior vice president of safety, health and environment at Balfour Beatty Construction. “Imagine how far we can move the needle on achieving zero harm if our projects embrace the concept of looking out for one another and making sure no one takes risks or shortcuts that could hurt themselves or their co-workers. We hope the kind of focus on people and safe behavior portrayed in these videos help start an industry movement so everyone goes home safe. That's why we"re openly sharing it.”

Balfour Beatty's new Zero Harm safety orientation videos center on promoting safe behaviors and decision-making in construction. As part of the company's relentless pursuit of zero harm on every project, the safety video is required viewing by all workers coming into contact with Balfour Beatty projects. In addition, Balfour Beatty's safety, health and environment team created hard hat stickers to provide to those who have viewed the video, creating one version for those with over a year of experience, and another for those with less than a year of experience who may benefit from extra supervision.

View both the English and Spanish versions of the new safety videos via the following links: Balfour Beatty Construction Zero Harm safety video in English and Balfour Beatty Construction Zero Harm safety video in Spanish. As a sponsor of Safety Week 2015, Balfour Beatty will highlight its teams" commitment to safety each day May 4-8 on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.