Safety

A Foundation Built on Safety

Kelpe Contracting, Inc. has the highest regard for the safety, health and the well-being of our employees.

We share this regard for other contractors and the general public. We strive for continuous improvement to our safety culture, and make every effort to raise the bar for safety.

We seek to cultivate a culture of safety making it a part of our everyday process, not just a box to check. On-site employee safety as well as the safety of the general public is of utmost importance to our organization. We prepare every employee with safety training across multiple formats so they have the knowledge they need to go home safe each day.

Our employees receive a vast amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the start of their employment journey with our company. Our management team is always here to replace PPE items if needed. There are times when job-sites have special conditions that requires additional safety planning and equipment, and we have you covered. At Kelpe Contracting, we have the internal resources and equipment to provide working solutions for almost any safety scenario.

For Kelpe Contracting, Inc. safety is our way of life. Just ask our clients and crews.

To Kelpe, safety is not negotiable — it’s a priority on every project.

We seek intelligent solutions to safety hazards and take more active steps to prevent accidents than other excavation and site utility companies. Safety isn’t something we hope to achieve, it’s something we work to guarantee. We strive to continually ensure the safety of our staff, and our job-sites.

In support of our mission, Kelpe Contracting engages in a multifaceted approach to workplace safety and education, providing ongoing training and regular safety checks to supplement and surpass local union and bylaw requirements.

Safety Meetings

Safety is everyone’s responsibility. It’s more than just talk, safety starts at the top.

The top-down approach to safety effectively sets the tone for accountability in all safety practices. Our President and Owner, Tom Kelpe, personally runs every monthly company-wide safety meeting in conjunction with our Safety Director, David Callies. Together, they continually drive our safety message home for every crew member on staff.

Toolbox Talks

Toolbox talks are one of our best opportunities for promoting on-the-job awareness for all employees.

We conduct weekly safety briefs for each of our crews known as Toolbox Talks—an effective method of refreshing staff knowledge and exchanging information with our experienced crew members. During these meetings, we focus on safety topics related to specific job-site conditions and potential work-site hazards. We want our team members to be aware of all safety issues.

OSHA Certified

Kelpe Contracting requires all staff to complete the OSHA 10-hour or 30-hour training courses.

Both the 10-hour and 30-hour OSHA training courses teach:

Hazard Recognition
Safety Issue Avoidance
Risk Abatement
Prevention of Health and Safety Hazards in the Workplace

All supervisors are required to complete the extensive OSHA 30 hour training program.

First Aid & CPR

In the event of an emergency, we need to be able to react and respond.

To achieve this, we ensure all staff receive ongoing first-aid and CPR certification. To help maintain these certifications, Kelpe requires it’s staff to undergo training for renewing certification every two years.

Competent Person Training

The competent person can effectively adapt to these conditions by incorporating appropriate corrective measures to their work practices to eliminate hazards.

All of our excavator operators are required to complete OSHA competent person training. This certification is designed to help operators identify working conditions or existing and predictable hazards in their surroundings.

iAuditor

All foremen are equipped with iPads that feature the iAuditor app, a safety app that lets us to push out the most up-to-date safety information possible.

Kelpe Contracting continues to utilize new technologies to increase safety standards. This also allows our teams to perform real time inspections and documentation of any potential safety concerns. Reporting and analytics from this app allow us to get insights faster and quickly fix potential safety issues.

On-Site Inspections

All project managers and operations staff are trained and empowered to make any onsite changes deemed necessary to follow safety procedures.

Our ongoing inspection procedures enable us to establish and maintain the safest work sites possible.

Foremen perform daily job-site inspections to verify conditions and crew safety.
Project managers participate in weekly safety checks to continually reinforce safety expectations.
Kelpe Contracting’s safety director checks each site for any further issues on a regular and ongoing basis.

This triple redundancy in protocols guarantees the highest standard of safety precautions on all of Kelpe Contracting’s projects and is successful in correcting safety issues as they are discovered.

Experience Modification Rate

All project managers and operations staff are trained and empowered to make any on-site changes deemed necessary to follow safety procedures.

EMR is an ongoing scoring system that can often be seen as proof of a safe work environment. A low EMR is also an indicator of high levels of employee training.

Current:

0.84

Lowest:

0.67