The SafeBuild Alliance Lean Safety Subcommittee has a vision to create a partnered work environment that fosters collaboration, relationships and diverse ideas that provide the most efficient, effective and safest work environment.

One of the committee objectives is to create “A User’s Guide to a Lean Safety Culture” to help contractors implement key lean safety items that will ultimately lead their projects to be safer and more efficient. A component of the user guides includes Best Known Methods (BKMs) to help projects achieve this level of safety and efficiency.

SafeBuild Alliance was awarded an OSHA grant in December of 2016 to help seek out and document these BKMs. These BKM’s are posted each month starting February 2017.

One example: The Construction Trash Dumper (CTD), introduced by Hoffman Construction, is designed as a new implement to help facilitate better efficiency (LEAN), reduce exposures (SAFETY) on job sites, and reduce employee exposures to these types of injuries.  For years, contractors have been dumping smaller debris bins into larger trash dumpsters, either manually or by forklift. Many personnel have been injured: back strains, arms hurt, shoulder injuries, severed/lacerated fingers, pinch-point injuries, etc.

In 2012, Hoffman approached ERGOdynamics to potentially build an automated trash dumpster for construction sites. Both Hoffman and ERGOdynamics witnessed how tight many construction sites are and together the two companies started brainstorming ways to create an effective and efficient automated construction dumpster implement. The goal was to have a compact machine that was mounted on rails to help distribute various construction debris into the large, rectangular metal dumpster containers — like a trash trolley.

Laborers, operators, and trade-specific subcontractor employees are being trained to operate the CTD with the goal of reducing employee exposures and cutting dispensing time in half.

Source: www.safebuildalliance.com