ST. LOUIS (May 15, 2024) – Tarlton Corp., St. Louis’ largest women-owned general contracting and construction management firm, implemented daily safety initiatives on jobsites and “handed out” fun and educational activities about safety in the workplace for youngsters of the firm’s employees in conjunction with Construction Safety Week.
According to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics www.bls.gov, hand injuries are the most common type of injury on the jobsite:
- 110,000 lost-time cases annually are due to hand injuries;
- One million workers are treated each year in the emergency department for hand injuries;
- 70 percent of workers who experience a hand injury were not wearing protective work gloves; and another 30 percent of workers were wearing gloves that were damaged or inadequate for the specific work task.
Tarlton’s safety team has been focusing on hand safety. To drive the point home during Construction Safety Week, Corporate Safety Director Ryan Wehrle encouraged employees to complete an educational hand safety coloring activity with their child, grandchild, niece, nephew or even a young neighbor. The activity, suggested by Safety Manager Tobe Schmidt, also asked the construction worker’s child/grandchild/friend to list a few reasons why hand safety for their loved one or friend is so important. Each completed handout was entered into a drawing, and four winners received tickets to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game, along with other prizes.
Tarlton’s other activities during the week included Toolbox Talks about heat safety/preventing heat stress; mental health; fall hazard safety; and more. The safety team delivered special Construction Safety Week T-shirts to every project team, and several project teams hosted presentations and safety lunches on their jobsites.
“At Tarlton, our culture of safety and care is rooted in everything we do,” said Wehrle. “Employees are our most valuable assets, and this year’s hands-on activity reinforced that the most important thing we do every day is send everyone home safe and well.”
