Meeting stringent safety standards can be a headache for small contractors

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Tough safety requirements often discourage the “little guys” from bidding on lucrative large-scale jobs

DON PROCTER

correspondent

The tough safety standards of large general contractors like PCL Constructors Inc. discourage some subcontractors from bidding on their projects — even when the contracts are lucrative.

Take drywall contractors, for example. Some dry wallers claim it is difficult to cobble together a skilled crew because some boarders see the stringent safety regulations as an impediment to the job at hand.

PCL’s guardrail requirement on scaffolding is one of their concerns. While Ontario’s and other provinces Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) regulations require guardrails on scaffolding about 10 feet high or higher, one contractor says PCL stipulates that guardrails must be installed on scaffolding six feet high and up.

Mike Freeman says while the company he works for, Excel Interior Contracting, won’t turn down an opportunity to bid on a PCL contract because of its safety policy, he understands why some contractors do — particularly those that hire piecework crews.

Guardrails on scaffolding can pose an access/egress obstacle for workers and materials, says the assistant manager.

“It is so tough to try and swing a sheet of drywall over top of a guardrail when you’re working over your head.”

Freeman suggests drywall boarders most likely to see such safety regs as overkill are used to piecework in the residential sector where “two ladders and a plank” serve as a scaffold.

Safety has increasingly become a priority on construction sites over the past five or so years, and contractors are encouraged to go “above and beyond” OH&S standards to get the job done, explains Derek Petrie, health and safety instructor of the Interior Systems Contractors Association of Ontario (ISCA).

Contractors reluctant to change, Petrie believes, are a minority — usually small contractors with crews of four or five. Along with guardrails, they often rail about other safety regs set by major contractors like PCL and EllisDon. The requirement that safety glasses must be worn at all times on site is an example.

He says getting caught breaking the safety rules on a site is one thing, but having an accident because the safety rules weren’t met can quickly put a company in the red.

“For lack of a better term, you are playing Russian roulette when you don’t take safety seriously.”

Rather than complain about a company’s safety policy, Freeman suggests contractors look to alternative solutions to get the job done. For example, if guardrails are a problem on scaffolding, consider a substitute — such as scissor lifts. Scissor lifts typically rent for about $1,200 a month — a small price when compared to the cost of labour assembling and disassembling scaffolding with guardrails on a big commercial job.

In his observations, younger construction workers more readily adapt to higher safety standards than older workers. “These kids grew up riding a bike with a helmet on or skateboarding with a helmets and knee pads. Safety is an easy sell to them because it has been engrained in them at a young age.”

Many older workers are more resistant. “Maybe they made their own [safety] rules for many years and worked their whole career without an injury so imposing these regs on them is a tough sell,” Freeman adds.

Murray Corey, executive director of the B.C. Wall & Ceiling Association, points out another reason why large commercial sites often require more stringent safety standards than small residential ones. “There are a significant amount of potential hazards in such projects. You have to be aware of what is going on from any and all sides, levels and angles. Any inconvenience arising from this position [of safety] is well within reason, given the stakes.”

What drywall contractor can afford to turn down a job just because of the safety policy anyway?

“If you get in with a big company, there’s a good chance you will be very busy for a while,” says Petrie.

“There are change-work orders which no one bitches or complains about pricing on — it’s where a lot of contractors make money.”