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John Habat, Executive Director (bottom left) and Rob Grimm, Director of Operations (bottom right), don their hard hats with some of Greater Cleveland HFH’s volunteer team members. They believe that implementing and maintaining a safe environment for staff and volunteers starts at the top.
Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity began their journey to improve their safety position in mid-2012. They formed a safety committee of staff and volunteers, and set to work evaluating their operations.
Don Hartle, Safety Specialist with HFHI, was called in to conduct a Competent Person training in December 2012 when they realized they hadn’t made the progress that they thought they had and didn’t have quite the handle they thought they did—there was still work to be done! The Competent Person training provided a great opportunity for key volunteers and staff to understand a “big picture” outlook on safety and get training from someone not immersed in the day-to-day operations of their affiliate. The training taught and reinforced key safety elements that they needed to apply to their work.
In 2013, as part of the Safety Award Program criteria, they completed and distributed a brand new safety plan, led by long time volunteer Victor Smole. They also completed numerous online training courses. during the year
Rob Grimm, Director of Operations said, “Now we’re in a much better place than before. Instead of seeing people doing things their own way, I see people wearing the proper attire and PPE, and actively practicing safety as they work.”
Cleveland is up for the challenge of the 2014 Safety Award Program and will be hosTing another Competent Training session at their affiliate in September, which will be open to all affiliates in Ohio.
Congratulations to everyone at Greater Cleveland Habitat—job well done!