PLAYING IT SAFE: Trust at the core of Lemberg’s workplace program

Listen to this article

For Brookfield-based Lemberg Electric, the key to a safe workplace isn’t just about updating workers on new code changes and making them attend meetings.

It’s about building trust.

And for electrical contractors like Lemberg, the consequences of overlooking safety protocol can be tragic, said Gwenn Soldner, the company’s safety director.

“With electrical shocks, the severity can go anywhere from minor injuries to death,” Soldner said. “Safety has to be your No. 1 priority. We all know the industry is competitive. Giving everybody a safe place to work has to come first.”

Creating a safe workplace is a common goal. Actually getting there requires more than just lip service. Lemberg’s safety regimen relies on building a culture of safety through a balance of trainings and relationships, Soldner said.

It’s a lesson he learned after years working as a building inspector for the city of West Bend. There he learned that coming down on contractors as a tough and inflexible regulator was a poor way to encourage companies to comply with city codes.

He found that approaching his job as an educator — not enforcer — yielded better results.

“Being a regulator and a stern hand doesn’t work,” Soldner said.

When he left the public sector for Lemberg in late 2015, Soldner brought this philosophy with him. Between trainings and seminars for employees, he worked to build trust among the company’s 160 or so employees, so that when workers saw something unsafe on the job, they felt comfortable coming to him.

Although the company’s employees are trained according to standards set by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, the company aims to create a safety regime that exceeds those standards and helps workers combat potential hazards that could crop up on Lemberg job sites.

To do that, the company relies on employees self-reporting when there’s a hazard or near-miss accident on the job site. It’s a system that requires trust between Soldner and Lemberg employees, he said.

“You’ve got to build the relationship and the culture and make sure everybody gets on the same bandwagon,” Soldner said. “We want to take our program and reflect what are we seeing on our jobs.” Follow @natebeck9