Craft Voice in Safety (CVIS)

Overview:

The CVIS Committee is an advisory group made up of site craft representatives providing an effective communication link between craft & management regarding the health, safety & welfare of employees on our work sites.

CVIS shall work closely with project management as part of the internal responsibility system & promote a positive health & safety culture where all workplace parties take responsibility for their own health & safety as well as that of their co-workers.

It is important to note that CVIS is only tasked with site related health & safety items and shall not be used as a forum for other work related issues.

Purpose:

In conjunction with project supervision & management, CVIS members shall assist craft in the identification & resolution of health & safety issues. Members of CVIS shall encourage craftto discuss their health & safety concerns with their immediate supervisor as the first step in resolving their concerns. The aim is to encourage a culture whereby workers are empowered to take responsibility for their own health & safety while at work. This empowerment shall not diminish the responsibility of the project safety department or project supervision towards health & safety but shall improve and strengthen the system as a whole. In the event that issues are not dealt with in a timely fashion by supervision then CVIS members shall elevate the issues to the appropriate levels within the project management organization.

CVIS shall be consulted for advice & solutions when at risk behaviors or conditions are identified through trend analysis.

Mission Statement:

The CVIS mission is to:

Promote and provide a safe workplace by making recommendations to correct health & safety concerns.

Identify, correct and report un-safe conditions that exist on the site and to promote the same from our workers

Motivate employees to recognize risk and mitigate hazards through training and promotion initiatives

Improve communications between all departments and to achieve mutual satisfaction and achieve our goal of NOBODY GETS HURT

Structure of CVIS:

The CVIS Committee shall consist of craft representation from each departmental discipline and include alternates to ensure site coverage during scheduled turnarounds (where applicable). Members shall serve on a volunteer basis with no fixed term of service. Project management shall provide the administrative aspect to ensure accurate & consistent recordkeeping of CVIS actions. A senior project managementrepresentative shall attend each meeting to provide support & address concerns but shall not involve themselves in the actual running or direction of CVIS. Co-chairs shall be established as determined by the members themselves.

Responsibilities:

  1. Members Shall:
  • Attend & fully participate in CVIS meetings.
  • Monitor the elements of the safety program in the workplace.
  • Promote activities that reflect a healthy & safe culture.
  • Receive & act appropriately upon complaints from other workers.
  • Communicate regularly to workers on the progress of their issues.
  • Lead by example.
  • Participate in inspections, investigations & work refusals as applicable.
  • Participate in safety related activities as applicable – orientations, safety meetings, training, WebEx attendance, etc.
  1. Co-chairs Shall:
  • Encourage participation by all members.
  • Assist in recruitment of new members as required.
  • Involve members in decision making & problem solving.
  • Communicate recommendations, including supporting documentation, to projectmanagement.
  • Review & sign-off on minutes.
  • Ensure minutes are distributed.
  • Other duties as appropriate to ensure the effective running of the Committee.
  1. Administrative Shall:
  • Maintain accurate records of Committee documents.
  • Take, prepare & distribute minutes for signature.
  • In the event an administrative person is unavailable an alternate shall be appointed at the time of the Committee meeting by the co-chair.
  1. ProjectManagement Shall:
  • Provide a suitable location for meetings to take place.
  • Provide members with sufficient time away from their regular, paid duties to attend to CVIS business.
  • Attend CVIS meetings as a resource & shall not attempt to influence the function of the committee.
  • Review & sign-off on minutes.
  • Respond to all concerns in the timeframe as stated in the minutes.

Meetings:

CVIS members shall advise craft the day prior to scheduled meetings in order to allow craft to bring forward any items they want raised at the meeting.

  1. Schedule of Meetings:
  • Meetings shall be held on a weekly basis at a predetermined time and location on the job site.
  • Meetings shall typically last between 1- 1.5hrs.
  1. Meeting Agenda:
  • An agenda template shall be prepared & utilized to ensure CVIS meetings are kept on track.
  • The following items from each previous meeting shall be included on the agenda for the following meeting:
  • Items where action is required
  • Items where follow up is required
  • Unfinished business
  1. Issues not to be discussed at CVIS meetings:
  • Labor management issues.
  • Non safety related disciplinary or personnel matters
  • Union business
  1. Additional meetings may be scheduled to deal with specific health & safety issues at the discretion of the co-chairs & project management.

Action Items:

Action items resulting from recommendations shall be recorded in the meeting minutes along with a reasonable timeframe for completion and the responsible person. Decisions regarding action item recommendations shall be reached through consensus of CVIS and not by a majority vote. When making decisions the following process shall be followed:

  • Identify the health & safety issue.
  • Review all supporting information
  • Generate alternate solutions & determine the best path forward.
  • Forward the recommendations to the appropriate person including all supporting information & rationale.
  • Follow up as per the timeframe & record this on the meeting minutes when the item is closed.

Identification of CVIS Members:

CVIS members shall be easily identified by other employees by three means:

  1. Job boards shall be equipped with CVIS member pictures. The job board picture shall be updated on a daily basis by the CVIS member working in that area.

  1. CVIS members shall be identified in the field by a unique vest.



  1. CVIS member pictures will be posted on the safety information board(s) on site.

KEYS TO CVIS SUCCESS

-Do not allow management to skip a meeting. There always has to be a minimum of one construction manager in attendance. (One is enough, we do not need a pile of CM’s General Superintendents and project managers to attend and take over the meeting)

-Do not allow the entire safety department to attend. (One safety manager and someone for taking minutes is enough)

-Have a craft executive elected to chair the meeting (this is a craft or a few craft that will steer the meetings)

-Make sure that the exec always meets with the safety manager and whichever construction manager will be attending prior to the meeting

-There should be two things discussed at the meeting

  • 1. What does CVIS need to tell management about (Management take-aways for their action)
  • 2. Most importantly, what is CVIS going to do this week to improve safety? (Sometimes CVIS comes up with these, but every week the safety and construction manager should have at least one thing they want CVIS to do for the project)

-Union issues, pay issues, work hours, etc., general things that are affecting moral are okay to be brought up once (no discussion on these items, these are things for management to take away and address as non-safety or CVIS related items)