Risk Management Responsibilities

Who is responsible for risk management in your construction company? Our clients will point at us and say that we are responsible, but they are only partially correct. Good risk management is a group effort, with each part of the company contributing to the overall success of the organization. The point of risk management is to reduce job site injuries, increase productivity, and help the company to enjoy long-term financial success. In our eyes, every part of the organization shares in the responsibility of creating a safe working environment in some way.

Project Management

It stands to reason that management would bear most of the responsibility when it comes to creating good safety policies for the company, but there is only so much management can do to make workers safe. Management is responsible for developing strong hiring methods that bring in quality workers, creating a variety of workplace safety policies that reduce risk, and making sure that those policies are understood and followed.

If management fails at any of its basic tasks in risk management, then there could be problems. But if management works hard to exceed what is expected of it, then the company could wind up developing a safety record that would attract quality workers and bigger jobs.

Field Supervisors

The people who are involved in the day-to-day operation of a project are the field supervisors, and they are critical to the success of any risk management program. Field supervisors must know the capabilities of each member of their crew, and they are also held accountable for the responsible and irresponsible actions of every crew member.

If there is a safety issue on a job site, then it is the field supervisor that is responsible for handling the situation. Good field supervisors develop ways to work with their crews to create safe working environments and reduce the company’s exposure to risk. Field supervisors arrange the regular safety training sessions that keep workers updated on the latest safe working methods, and supervisors correct behavior that is detrimental to the rest of the job.

Crew Members

Each crew member has their own job to do, and each crew member is responsible for workplace safety in their own way. While the entire crew should be vigilant and report any potential safety issues, each crew member also needs to be on the watch for risk issues that are part of their own specialty. For example, crane operators need to report potential issues with malfunctioning cranes before someone gets hurt to reduce the company’s exposure to risk.

When the entire crew is dedicated to doing their part to reduce hazards in a workplace, then that develops a nurturing and safe work environment. Our experience shows us that when you have a positive environment where everyone is dedicated to safety, you are much more likely to run an efficient and profitable operation.

Reducing risk is not just something that management worries about and then creates policies that everyone has to follow. For risk management to be successful with a construction company, every person involved in working on a project has to be dedicated to making sure that the work site is safe and risk is reduced. When everyone takes on
their responsibility in terms of risk management, the entire company benefits in the long run.