Each week, ICBA’s Jordan Bateman reflects on what we’ve learned as we participate in ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program. This program is free for all ICBA members – check out icba.ca/wellness for details.
The team at ICBA is now into our final month of our Workplace Wellness program, and we’re looking at Diversity and Inclusion – creating a dynamic workforce where differences are appreciated and valued.
In construction, safety is the single most important thing. Accepting people of other genders, backgrounds, religions, beliefs, educations, abilities, and ethnicities improves site safety. Here’s how:
- Getting, and accepting, input from different people offers different perspectives on how to work safely
- It encourages more people to speak up about unsafe behavior
- It creates a caring culture, and it helps us to challenge traditional or “macho” ways of behaving that can have a negative impact on safety
As our reading puts it, “When we accept and include other people’s differences, rather than expecting them to change and become like us, we can improve safety for everyone and create an environment where more people feel comfortable speaking up when they see a safety issue that might affect them or someone else.”
Seems reasonable to me!
ICBA’s Workplace Wellness Program is helping more than 75 companies and 7,000+ construction professionals better understand mental health. The program is free for ICBA members — see icba.ca/wellness.
