Excavating Safety Practices: How We Keep Our Crew Safe Everyday

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Safety is the top priority at Cook’s Excavating – and our track record shows that we really mean it. The Cook’s team has worked over 350,000 consecutive hours with no accidents. And in January 2023, Cook’s was presented with the National Safety Council’s Safety Leadership Award because of our dedication to jobsite safety. 

The Cook’s Approach

When it comes to safety practices and policies, Cook’s believes it all starts with management at the top. Our Comprehensive Safety Training program requires all employees to attend an in-house OSHA 10 and/or OSHA 30 construction training when they first start their career at Cook’s. Once OSHA training is complete, the team member will then take a first aid, CPR and AED class through the American Heart Association. 

A new team member’s first day in the field includes reviewing and becoming familiar with the Emergency Action Plan (EAP). Each jobsite has a custom EAP that was designed by the Cook’s Safety Director along with local fire, EMS, police and emergency operations centers. The EAP includes everything from job location, equipment being used, job tasks to be completed and any hazards that are expected. 

“By involving emergency services with the process, it allows them to become familiar with the job location, the work we will be completing, and even become familiar with the equipment we will be using,” says Nick Lawrence, Safety Director at Cook’s Excavating. “The EAP is discussed daily on each job site and signed off by every employee.”

Eliminating On-Site Hazards

At Cook’s, our goal is to wear all of the required personal protective equipment (PPE) – but never have to use it. We believe that if PPE is one of the main sources of safety on a job site, that means you are just presenting your team with unnecessary hazards on a daily basis.
“Our goal is to eliminate hazards,” says Lawrence. “If the hazard can’t be eliminated, then we will upgrade our PPE and ensure that every employee is aware of the hazard, the potential risks and determine what we can do to remain safe on the jobsite.”

Daily Safety Inspections

Every day on every jobsite, the Cook’s team conducts thorough safety inspections to ensure the equipment, site and workers are ready for the day. An OSHA-defined competent employee either a job foreman or superintendent, completes a 55-point checklist for each piece of machinery, a 40-point checklist for tools and a 175-point checklist for the jobsite. There are also weekly safety inspections conducted onsite as an additional precaution. 

“The weekly safety inspections are in more detail than the daily safety inspections and take a deeper dive into the engine compartment, hydraulics, and other things on the equipment. The comprehensive monthly inspections are completed by our safety director,” says Lawrence.

With a comprehensive approach to safety, it’s no surprise that Cook’s Excavating has been recognized nationally. We pride ourselves with our track record and stand by the motto – “You came to work on purpose, don’t leave by accident.”

contact us.

Have a job for us? Send us a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you for your interest in Cook’s Excavating, LLC, and we hope we can provide our services to you!