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Overcoming Safety Challenges in a Turnaround

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safety staffing contractor

If you have planned for a plant shutdown or turnaround, or are currently managing one, then you have encountered the associated risk and safety hazards.  All good employers make safety the top priority while the turnaround will also be evaluated based upon quality, schedule and budget.  

How do you effectively drive high quality work on schedule and within budget without compromising safety?  

Build and maintain a safety culture with accountability.  

There are a lot of moving parts to your turnarounds with multiple contractors and subcontractors.  All these moving parts can threaten the integrity of your safety culture without a solid framework to keep everyone accountable to the safety mission.  

The blocking and tackling required to execute the quality of work, adherence to schedule and budget can begin to push against the zero tolerance nature of effective safety compliance.  While we know recognizing and preventing hazards is key to a safe workplace, as long as humans continue to work, there will be accidents.  Minimizing the risk of incident given that humans are working amongst changing hazards is key.  

How do you minimize the risk of a safety incident on your job?  

  • • Recognize the hazard
  • • Communicate
  • • Act to mitigate the threat 

If you can improve the turnaround team’s performance on these three points, you will minimize the risk of having an accident on your job.  

How do you improve the turnaround team’s performance on these three points?

  • • Assure there are experienced Safety Specialists and Techs working your turnaround
  • • Keep the experienced Safety Specialists and Techs out of the line of production management reporting

By having experienced Safety Specialists, Techs and other safety roles out of the production reporting chain of command, you maximize the total team accountability to the safety culture and zero tolerance mandate.  

Having Experienced Safety Staff means people whose primary role is Safety and who is fully competent in recognizing hazards, communicating effectively and knows how to act to support mitigation of a threatening situation.  

Just as you need your welders to be highly competent specialists who answer to the quality of their welds, so you also need Safety Staff from top to bottom who are highly competent and are not unduly influenced by any competing priorities such as schedule or budget.

It may seem of little consequence to many Turnaround Managers or Planners how the Safety staff is sourced for their project, but the impact of Safety Staff sourcing can be quite significant.  There is wisdom in helping your turnaround employees and contractors succeed by having Safety Staff as a stand alone team; out of the line of production supervision.  Minimize the risk associated with having the “fox watching the hen house.” 

What is a major step forward toward overcoming safety challenges during a turnaround?

Include an experienced Safety Staffing Contractor on your turnaround for all safety related positions where roles are not already filled by the owners’ safety staff.   

We help staff for turnarounds so have to identify these challenges and make it a priority to plan and communicate well so that things go smoothly.

If you are need of temporary labor or safety professionals during a turnaround, give us a call. Even if you have run into an obstacle toward the end of a turnaround, we may be able to provide qualified staff to handle the job. To learn more about the positions we staff and our process, please see here: https://responsablestaffing.com/safety-staffing/

Recruiting Tips To Build Your Best Team

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recruiting tips

Helping companies with staffing needs is our business and we know the challenges of recruiting talent in today’s labor market.  Our clients have found significant value in staying focused on their core business by outsourcing much of the recruiting burden to us.

But for those who want to tackle recruiting internally, this post shares some basic tips for critical recruiting fundamentals that will help you build your best team.

1. Have an Effective Job Posting

Everybody has a job posting as you can’t really post a job without one; but, you need a good job posting.  What makes a good job post?

  • • An appealing post will describe some positive attributes of the employer
  • • A job post should be clear and concise about the description of the job role
  • • A good post will sound appealing to the target candidate pool
  • • The job post should provide enough detail to clarify required candidate qualifications

2. Advertise Your Job Post to Reach Your Target Audience

Armed with effective job posting copy, you are ready to promote or advertise your job.  There are a few things to consider when promoting your job posts.

  • • Target the right audience and best platform to advertise your job. Different job boards appeal to different candidates so you need to put your jobs on the most appropriate board or combination for the target audience.
  • • Consider the “key words” for search engine optimization, SEO, in the title of your job post. Using effective key words will put your post higher in search results which affects how many people see your job.
  • • Sponsor or promote your post where available to maintain a page one to page two position in search results. Different recruiting sites have differing costs for sponsoring job posts so the optimum dollar amount will vary by recruiting site and the competing or similar jobs on each site.

3. Phone Screen Selected Candidates

A prepared phone interview to screen candidates selected from your applicant pool is an important step in the recruiting process.  The phone screen assures the candidate matches their resume and can communicate the same.  A thirty minute conversation by phone saves time by avoiding wasted time in bad interviews.

  • • The phone screen should include the required candidate qualifications.
  • • Review both parties’ expectations of the job to minimize risk of obvious deal breakers from turning up in a face to face interview.
  • • Get a broad feel for salary expectations from the candidate

4. The Face-to-Face Interview

Be prepared for the face to face interview.  There are several parts to the face to face interview that we focus upon.

  • • Use a written interview guide to ensure you cover all the key points to support a robust interview.
  • • Have more than one employer representative participate in the interview process if practical. It’s good to have more than one perspective for the best results.
  • • The first and most basic element is confirming the person matches the resume or application. Some people look great on paper but struggle to tell you the same story in person.
  • • Include a few behavioral questions along the line of work problems they have solved, communicating in difficult situations examples, obstacles they have overcome, etc.
  • • Character and integrity; arguably the most important traits after basic competency for building a good team. Pay careful attention to character, integrity and reliability indicators throughout the interview.  Ask a few charged questions about doing the right thing even when it costs you personally or how they respond to authority for example.
  • • Be open and honest about challenges of job or work environment. In over 20 years of management, I’ve never seen a job that was not challenging in multiple ways.
  • • Ask the candidate to score their interest level for you at the close of the interview. I am very weary of a candidate who can not sincerely tell me they are interested and want the job.
  • • Lastly, score the candidate privately immediately after the interview. A simple 1 – 10 score with 10 being a perfect candidate and 1 being “really bad fit.”  We are naturally biased toward the most recent interviews so it’s important to score the candidates at the time we meet them.

5. Take the Hiring Process Seriously

This may sound obvious and it should, but I see business peers short cut a robust hiring process with regularity.

  • • Don’t hire a friend or relative because you know them. Interview a friend or relative because you know them every time and encourage them to perform well through the interview process. Hiring a friend is easy while firing them for poor performance is painful for the business, the employee and the friendship.
  • • The hiring process is part of the public relations and branding of your business. Be professional and represent your business as professional to the industry you serve.  It’s a small world.

Following a consistent and effective recruiting process for your business is fundamental to strong performance.  It’s good for the business and good for the employees.  Invest the time to make sure recruiting is done well or find someone to help you.  The strength of your team depends on it.

On Boarding: Why the Bother?

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on boarding employees

There are as many approaches to On Boarding an employee as there are employers.  Some have a methodical process that slow rolls the employee into their new position while others apply the sink or swim technique with a steep curve right to action.

Wherever your business falls along the On Boarding continuum, there are a few fundamental On Boarding process elements that pay large dividends in contributing to the success of your employees.  Technical skills and ongoing training are beyond the scope of this post.  Here we are covering the general steps to ensure a new employee integrates into your work environment well and as intended.  I recommend your check your current process to confirm the following are included.

1. Employee Files.

All required employee data, forms and signatures should be checked and completed as step 1 upon employment.  This may sound obvious, but I have seen employers allow employees begin work without I-9 documentation; thinking it is ok for the worker to bring it in later.  I have other examples but this one makes the point.

The data and form requirements to hire an employee all have purpose.  Any missing form, data or signature imposes risk to the employer, employees and customers.  Under the example of missing I-9 data, an accident involving the new employee may not have insurance coverage.  Employer liability normally protected may fall squarely upon the employer without the protection of insurance you pay for.  Any medical expense to the new employee may also go without medical benefit protection if they are not proven legal as an employee.

Step 1 in the On Boarding process is to review and confirm all required data, forms and signatures are complete and on file with the employer.

2. Orientation

Once you have confirmed that any new employee is properly processed and documented into your work environment, you should provide an Orientation session.  Orientation should be designed to communicate what the employee should expect, how they can seek help and what you are looking for from them through the On Boarding process.

Employees who are comfortable and confident in their surroundings are better learners. Your goal as an employer through Orientation is to ensure the new employee learns what you need them to know as effectively and quickly as practical.  Help the employees by making them comfortable and familiar with where they are, what they should be doing and what you expect of them through the On Boarding process. Smaller businesses don’t often have well organized Orientation programs for new hires but the needs are the same in small or large organizations.  The costs of new employees stumbling and bumbling through their first few days or weeks on the job is as negatively impactful to a small company as it is to a large company, maybe more so.

Make Step 2 of On Boarding a clear Orientation including:

  • • Familiarity with the physical environment
  • • What the employee should expect
  • • How the employee can seek help
  • • What the employer expects from the new hire through the On Boarding period

3. Supervisor One on One.

Every job is a distinct but a common need amongst employees is they benefit from a coach.  Whether a high level professional position or a line level worker, we perform better when we have someone to lead us in the right direction and talk us through obstacles.

The Supervisor One on One is a great time to take Orientation to the details of the individual job requirements.  Have the Supervisor or Manager position themselves as the “Coach” who is there to lead and ensure the success of the new employee.  The Supervisor One on One serves a dual purpose regarding establishing accountability.  The Supervisor One on One establishes the accountabilities of the new employee while also making the Supervisor accountable for the success of their individual team members.

Step 3 of the On Boarding process is to establish the relationship between a new employee and their Supervisor or Manager as one of mutual accountability.

As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, every situation is unique and On Boarding processes will vary widely by company and role.  I recommend you review your On Boarding process if you have one or create one if you don’t.  Take the time to maximize the likelihood that your new hires come up to speed safely and confidently so you and they wind up being successful.

Outsource Safety Staffing and Watch Your Business Grow

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outsource safety staffing

We know that the administrative load of HR duties can be overwhelming. All of the details of managing employees, payroll, safety and compliance can weigh heavy on your mind. More than likely you ALWAYS feel like you have too much to do. There are only so many hours in a day.

Time is your greatest resource- shouldn’t you be using it to focus on growth strategies? When you outsource safety staffing, it allows you to create some margin, to find time you otherwise wouldn’t have in your schedule to focus on what’s next. Partnering with ResponsAble frees you up to grow and we want to help you streamline your processes in order to boost your bottom line. One of our goals is to alleviate the admin “busy work” burden from you so that you can get back to doing what you do best.

Get back to business.

We offer our clients the convenience of handing off all of the paperwork and administrative work involved with hiring, paying, and managing people to us when you outsource your safety staffing. Our services will significantly reduce the time you spend on paper processes, giving you much more of a competitive advantage to focus on doing what only you can do. Give your HR functions to us so that you can get back to business. And as you grow, we’ll grow with you.

Here’s three reasons why it makes good business sense to outsource your safety staffing:

1. Save time and money: We onboard new employees saving you administration and processing.

2. Focus on strategy: Spend more time getting new business and looking for growth opportunities.

3. Increase compliance: When you hire us, the safety staffing experts, compliance is no longer a concern. We guarantee that you will meet all compliance standards with our staff and employees.

We are your ally.

We want to become an extension of your business and an ally that helps go grow to where you want to go. When you outsource safety staffing to us, we take on the HR functions of employee assistance, temporary staffing, background checks, training and development, payroll and more. To speak to us more about outsourcing, give us a call at 225-753-1909.

Quality Safety Personnel: Get Access to Our Continuously Growing Database

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Continuously Growing Database

Just last week I got a call from a client in Ohio that needed safety personnel for job at a refinery to start immediately, just as soon as we could work out the logistics.

Most of the calls that we get from clients are safety managers that need people on the site within days (more like yesterday). Not only do they need someone to fill the role quickly, but they need a high quality safety professional- someone who has been trained, meets set expectations, is certified, qualified, has passed drug tests and background checks, and can start immediately.

Luckily, we have enough people in our database that we can meet this need quickly and match high quality safety professionals to clients that really needed them yesterday.

Set a Higher Standard for Your Hiring Processes

When you’re pressed for time and you need to fill positions quickly to ramp up for a job, don’t hire just anyone; it’s not worth the risk. As tempting as it may be to make the fast and easy hires, it’s better for you to be picky in the selection of your safety professionals.

When you make desperate hires (untrained, unexperienced people) in a time crunch, you send a negative message to your employer that can be damaging to your reputation. You do not want to put untrained, unexperienced safety professionals on a worksite, as it will inevitably create worksite issues and an unsafe environment.

Get Access to Our Stream of Qualified Safety Personnel

When you hire ResponsAble to take over your safety hiring process, you get access to a continually growing pool of highly qualified safety professionals. Our safety professionals stay consistently employed so they stay sharp in their training and skill level. We don’t supply you with just warm bodies; we have a ready pool of trained and reliable safety personnel that have years of experience.

Our hiring process includes:

  • Full background checks & drug testing
  • Ranking to check skill levels and specialties.
  • Ongoing training, certification and development to improve each individual’s fit with more positions and companies.

Hire a Safety Staffing Specialist that Recruits & Trains Around the Clock

ResponsAble Safety Staffing works around the clock, continuously recruiting, training, and adding highly qualified safety personnel to our team. We do this year round to acquire a pool of qualified safety personnel to match them to employers. We never stop searching for the best of the best to send to our clients.

This continuously growing database of talent is an ongoing stream for companies like yours that need safety staff to ramp up new jobs quickly:

  • Temporary ramp up for quick turnarounds
  • Expansion Projects
  • Interim Positions

We are the Safety Staffing Specialists

Our safety personnel are better screened, trained, and more experienced because we are 100% focused on safety staffing. This benefits you in upholding a professional image and reputation, fewer hassles, and a safer job site. We can give you all this on demand, from an ever-growing database of quality safety professionals.

You may not have time to seek out highly qualified safety professionals in a time crunch, but we do. In fact, we don’t have to find them. We already have them, and they’re ready to go. Contact us today to learn how to outsource your safety staffing with us, the safety staffing experts. Give us a call at 225-753-1909!

3 Ways ResponsAble Improves Your Staffing Experience

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Safety Staffing

  1. We provide higher quality, better-trained, safety-aware staff.

We’re able to find high quality people because we have years of experience and connections in finding the best qualified recruits.

  • We have a background in Safety Consulting, so we intimately understand the safety issues and needs of your job.
  • As one of the few safety staffing companies in the nation, we maintain relationships with a larger list of laborers who actually have past experience working in environments where safety is paramount.
  • We offer safety training to every recruit – even those who are not safety staff, but just laborers.
  1. We provide personalized management support.

We are invested in our work force and we are invested in building long term relationships with our contractors. So we offer our contractors actual management support from trained safety personnel.

  • We understand that managing temporary staff comes with some unique challenges, and we help our contractors try to anticipate those and deal quickly with anything that comes up.
  • We are safety staffing specialists. Being a specialist means having experience and focus that others do not. And that makes all the difference.
  1. We guarantee better site safety and job performance.

With our employees on site, we guarantee a safer job site for you which means less issues for you to deal with. Our employees are more reliable and consistent for several reasons:

  • They are often looking for more of a long term relationship with us because we are focused on safety staffing.
  • They have a much better chance of repeat employment through us. This tends to make them a bit more conscientious than most temporary employees.
  • They get more training with us and it gives them more confidence.

Safety staffing is what we do. 

We are hands-on with our employees from beginning to end.  We are not just interested in staffing as a means to an end, as a way to land a bigger job.

This means we are not just looking for warm bodies, we are looking to build stable, dependable people we can invest in and re-employ over and over again with confidence.

Why does that matter to you?

Our focus on safety staffing allows us to offer more of our recruits more consistent employment, which allows us to attract better people and be more selective in our recruiting.

Since we are building a work force, not just staffing a single job, we can justify our own investment in more than the required upfront safety and employment training and have more incentive to offer real management support to the contractors we work with while our employees are on your job site.

To improve your staffing experience, give us a call to talk about how we can provide the staff you need for your business. Reach us at 225-753-1909!