Safety Series: The Importance of Excellent Communication
- Evie Katz Palka
- Aug 11
- 3 min read
August 11, 2025
Effective safety communication is a cornerstone of PREMIER’s proactive safety culture. Learn about the critical role of clear, two-way communication between build teams, supervisors, and vendors to reduce jobsite risks and enhance emergency preparedness. From real-time alerts to vendor coordination and worker medical information strategies, the paper highlights practical tools and protocols to keep everyone informed and engaged. Emphasizing trust and collaboration, this guide demonstrates how open communication not only prevents accidents but empowers every team member to take ownership of jobsite safety.
Key Takeaways
Clear communication channel strategies are critical to ensure a safe jobsite by enabling continuous, clear exchange of information between field teams, supervisors, and external partners.
Foster trust through open communication by promoting a culture of openness that encourages employees to speak up about hazards, leading to early risk identification, better incident reporting, and proactive mitigation.
Be proactive in having a plan for shifting site conditions with flexible strategies helps maintain safe operations throughout a project’s lifecycle.
Today, we’re continuing our culture of safety discussion with Dan Wolf, PREMIER’s National Safety Director, on the importance of clear communication channels between the build teams, supervisors, and suppliers on the jobsite. “Keeping everyone on the site informed about their individual safety responsibilities, potential risks, and emergency procedures is just as important as hard hats and safety vests.”
Communication Channel Strategies
Any communication system must be designed like a two-lane road. Just like traffic, the flow of valuable information must travel in both directions equally. By continually sharing information about potential hazards, work teams can take proactive measures to prevent accidents and mitigate risks. Here are some ideas to ensure these essential safety updates don’t go unnoticed.
Streamline Safety Communications: Open communication between leadership, employees, and vendors allows your staff to speak quickly and efficiently about potential safety issues via phone, text, and email.
Prioritizing Urgency: Use “Safety Inquiry-[Job Name]” in the subject lines of text messages or emails to emphasize importance and ensure a timely response. For external safety communications, insist on a receipt acknowledgment to confirm messages are received and understood.
Engaging Vendors & Supplies: External safety communications to suppliers and vendors are critical since their employees aren’t on the job site daily. Potential hazards change as the different trades and their equipment move from one project section to another.
Having strategies ready before they’re needed allows companies to be proactive instead of reactive to changing job conditions and personnel availability. While these plans would vary from contractor to contractor, they could include crew rotations, material substitutions, or flexible work shifts.
Worker Information Strategies
No discussion about safety communications would be complete without addressing the need for worker information after an accident. If the injured worker is unconscious or unable to speak, they can’t relay essential personal health information needed for diagnosis or proper treatment. For example, QR codes located on a hardhat tag or badge can be easily scanned by EMTs to quickly access the team member’s personal health and emergency contact information.
Open communication creates a safer worksite through proactive safety measures and reduces the likelihood of accidents. Here are seven specific examples to consider.
Early Hazard Identification: Open communication channels allow employees to share concerns about potential hazards, making it easier to identify and address safety issues before they escalate.
Improved Incident Reporting: A culture of open communication encourages prompt reporting of injuries, accidents, and near-misses, which helps team members understand the root causes and implement corrective actions.
Proactive Safety Measures: When employees feel comfortable reporting concerns and suggesting solutions, it fosters a proactive approach to safety, where potential risks are anticipated and addressed before they materialize.
Reduced Miscommunication: Open and transparent communications minimize misunderstandings about safety procedures, protocols, and potential hazards, reducing the risk of errors and accidents.
Enhanced Psychological Safety: A culture of open communication fosters psychological safety, where employees feel comfortable asking questions, admitting mistakes, and offering suggestions without fear of judgment or repercussions.
Stronger Trust: Open communication builds trust between management and employees, making it easier for workers to report concerns and contribute to a safer work environment.
Improved Collaboration: Open communication encourages worker collaboration and trust, leading to more effective problem-solving and safety improvements.
As more employees participate in creating and adhering to company safety policies, they quickly become organizational stakeholders in the company’s safety culture.
Proactive safety communication is essential to PREMIER’s safety culture as it reduces potential risks for everyone on site. However, fostering a safer jobsite requires effort from every construction team member, as well as the project’s subs, vendors, and suppliers.
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