Contractor Safety Certification Application Instructional Guide

This instructional guide to completing the Contractor Safety Certification Application will help applicants understand how to complete the form. It is extremely important that applicants answer questions as accurately as possible because false information may lead to rejection of an application.

1. List all applicable Construction Specification Institute (CSI) codes:

The CSI divisions identify your company's specific trade or specialty. MICCS will use these CSI listings to place your company into the different trade or specialty categories in the MICCS database. Owners may search the MICCS database to determine "certified" contractors in the different trades (e.g. Finishes is CSI division 09)). Your property/casualty insurance agent may be able to assist in determining your CSI code. Following is a listing of the CSI divisions.

• » 01 General Requirements
• » 02 Sitework
• » 03 Concrete Work
• » 04 Masonry
• » 05 Metals
• » 06 Carpentry
• » 07 Thermal / Moisture Protection
• » 08 Doors and Windows
• » 09 Finishes
• » 10 Specialties
• » 11 Equipment
• » 12 Furnishings
• » 13 Special Construction (Instrumentation)
• » 14 Hoisting
• » 15 Mechanical
• » 16 Electrical

2. Please list name(s) of any consulting/loss prevention services that your company has utilized in managing you safety efforts.    Back to top

Consulting/loss prevention services are organizations staffed with experienced personnel in identifying safety hazards and offering advice on managing the correction of those safety hazards. These organizations usually charge an hourly rate or hard dollar amount for the use of their consultation services.

3. List your firm's Experience Modification Rate (EMR) for the three most recent years.   Back to top

Experience Modification Rates (EMR) are issued to contractors by their insurance company. It is determined/ influenced by the number of accidents, the costs incurred, and the amount of disability incurred. Insurance company's calculate rates by each trade classification. The ratings are averaged for a three-year period (One bad accident actually effects your insurance premiums for three years). The lower the EMR, the better the contractor's safety rating, as it relates to worker's compensation insurance. If you have any questions about your EMR rating, call your insurance company.

4. Number of Injuries and illnesses:   Back to top

An OSHA 300 A Log is a log of all recordable occupational injuries and illnesses. All companies with 10 or more employees are required to maintain the log. If not required to maintain OSHA 300 A Log, utilize your Worker's Compensation claims files to determine rates. "Total Hours Worked" means all hours worked for a year in the field, office, and overhead by permanent and temporary workers. The OSHA 300 A Log totals are used when figuring company safety rates. When figuring a company's Days Away including Restricted and Transfer (DART), columns H and I are totaled, multiplied by 200,000, and divided by the total hours worked. When figuring a Recordable Incident Rate (RIR), columns H, I, and J are totaled, multiplied by 200,000, and divided by the total hours worked. When figuring the total number of fatalities, sum column G. This program takes a 3 year calculation by tripling all of the figures in the formulas above.

5. Safety Plan Evaluation:   Back to top

I 5.1 Management Leadership and Employee Participation

A. Do you have a clear written worksite Safety and Health Policy?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has a written set of procedures, easily understood by all employees and specific to the work your company performs, on eliminating and reducing any safety hazards that employees may encounter on the job-site. These procedures shall address all hazardous issues and safety precautions to help avoid accidents.

Best Practice: Company XYZ administers a written manual, that is broken down into sections, consisting of different safety precautions for employees to take while conducting work. This book is written in all languages spoken by their employees, and includes a clear assignment of responsibilities in carrying out the policy. The sections include topics such as substance abuse, hazard communication, and fire prevention, as well as more specific policies including lockout tagout, wearing PPE, fall protection, and working with electricity.

B. Do you have clear health and safety goals and objectives, set and communicated to employees?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has documented actions that would improve company safety issues, along with detailed steps and a time frame allowed to accomplish them. The employees of the corporation are also informed of these documented actions to be taken.

Best Practice: The management team of Company XYZ holds a meeting once every three months to develop steps that will improve the company's safety. The members document all actions to be taken in order to accomplish this task, and assign a date for the goals to be completed by. The members then deliver copies of the documented goals to all employees.

C. Management Leadership - Is top management committed to safety and health?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that upper management members of your corporation take actions to ensure safety guidelines are followed, and make a constant effort to see that a safe workplace is provided and always improving.

Best Practice: The President and Vice President of Company XYZ have completed OSHA 30 Hour courses to better their knowledge of workplace hazards. They closely monitor the company's incident rate, and ensure that the company's Safety Committee is taking actions that consistently lower it. These officers have also implemented a system of disciplining any management team member that fails to correct a reported safety hazard and employees that fail to report recognized hazards.

D. Employee Involvement - Do employees have a positive impact in identifying and resolving safety and health issues?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that employees are an active part of identifying workplace hazards by reporting concerns to management, or being members of a safety committee.

Best Practice: Company XYZ has designated a suggestion box for safety concerns, and mounted it in a clearly visible location beside the time clock. The management then explained the purpose and use of the box by sending notices to employees. The company has also developed a Safety Committee carrying members from both the management team and the employee staff.

E. Assigned Safety and Health Responsibilities - Can employees explain what performance is expected of them?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has clearly communicated all health and safety responsibilities to managers, supervisors, and employees in all parts of the organization in order for them to completely understand what performance is expected from them.

Best Practice: The President of Company XYZ has developed and documented the instruction of general precautions for the managers, supervisors, and employees to take in order to perform work in a safe manner. Employees are required to attend a safety orientation, prior to beginning work that informs and tests employees of these precautions prior to beginning work.

F. Authority and Resources for Safety and Health - Is there a budget for safety and health?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has designated a portion of the budget to improving safety concerns and accommodating recommendations.

Best Practice: The management team members of Company XYZ decided that 7% of the company's monthly net profit for the next two years would be spent on improving safety. A high priority is the professional development safety training needed for the Safety Coordinator. They also prioritized the safety concerns to better distribute funds in areas needing more improvement.

G. Accountability - Are employees held accountable for safe performance with appropriate rewards and consequences and is the disciplinary system documented?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation does hold employees responsible for following safety guidelines. They have a documented recognition program that rewards employees that conduct work in a safe manner, and a policy that enforces discipline for employees that conduct work in an unsafe manner.

Best Practice: Company XYZ has implemented a system of rewarding their safest operating department at the end of each month. The departments are evaluated by their incident rate, monthly audits, as well as any reported unsafe acts, and then given a score. The highest scoring department is rewarded with gift certificates for dinner. They also have given written warnings, layoffs and terminations for those who have violated the safety policy. Occasionally a special "remedial" safety class is held for those who are repeat violators.

H. Program Review (Quality Assurance) - Is the safety and health program reviewed at least annually to make appropriate program modifications?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that the management team annually reviews all aspects of the safety and health program to evaluate its success in meeting goals and objectives, and makes program revisions when they do not meet the goals. Program reviews are conducted to ensure compliance when new OSHA regulations are instituted.

Best Practice: The management team and Safety Committee members of Company XYZ hold a meeting on the first working day of February each year. In this meeting the members review the effectiveness of the safety program toward providing employees with a safe work environment. If any sections of the program need improvement, then corrections are made as soon as possible to ensure the safety of the employees.

II 5.2 Workplace Analysis

A. Hazard Identification - Are qualified safety or health persons used to respond to accidents, complaints, or compliance activity?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has a safety professional, that has advanced knowledge and experience in identifying safety concerns, conduct documented surveys in response to reported accidents, employee complaints, and compliance issues.

Best Practice: Company XYZ has employed a management member that has obtained a Degree in Safety and has been exposed to the process of identifying safety concerns for over 10 years. The company has designated this person as being responsible for attending to any accidents that are reported or noticed on the job-site, handling employee complaints, as well as identifying and correcting all safety hazards.

B. Hazard Identification (Change Analysis) - Are hazard reviews of planned/new facility, process, material, or equipment conducted?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation is focused to evaluate and initiate control measures for any new hazards that are part of new equipment, material, or process.

Best Practice: Company XYZ utilizes a "Safe to Work" permit that reviews the purchase of any new equipment to ensure the adequate procedures are established and training is conducted. Prior to bidding new jobs, Company XYZ completes a Pre Job Planning Checklist that evaluates the unique safety issues for that job.

C. Hazard Identification (Change Analysis) - Are the hazard review findings, policies and procedures documented/communicated to employees?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation documents any hazards that are reported to management, found during inspections, or recognized by any other means. The found hazards are scheduled for corrective action, and affected employees are notified. If the hazard review process causes any policy or procedure to change then employees are notified/ trained in these changes./p>

Best Practice: The Safety Director of Company XYZ documents all hazards that are reported to management, found during routine inspections, or recognized by other means. The director then immediately sends copies of the hazards to all affected employees.

D. Hazard Identification (Job and Process Analysis) - Does a hazard analysis program exist for appropriate jobs and processes and is understood by affected employees?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has a documented procedure on analyzing workplace hazards, and frequently conducts a hazard analysis in high hazard areas.

Best Practice: Company XYZ has a file of written information that explains the proper procedures to analyze situations in order to determine if any hazards are present. Then the found hazards are ranked by their severity. The hazards that pose a high severity are inspected weekly by the safety director. The hazard analysis process is used to determine the safe operating procedures and necessary personal protective equipment for major job functions.

E. Hazard Identification (Self-Inspection) - Are routine inspections conducted by selected and trained personnel who drive appropriate corrective action?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation selects personnel, who are well educated in the field of safety, to conduct inspections. The selected personnel are instructed to express hazardous issues to upper management in order to initiate corrective actions.

Best Practice: The Safety Director and Safety Committee of Company XYZ are required to conduct monthly safety inspections. These members then review all found hazardous issues and present them to the upper management officials in order to be corrected.

F. Hazard Reporting System - Is there a documented procedure for hazard reporting? Do employees feel comfortable in using the procedure, and are corrective actions tracked?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has a written procedure for employees to report hazards; employees do not feel that their job could be in jeopardy if reporting a hazard; all actions taken by management to correct hazards are documented.

Best Practice: Company XYZ verbally explains and includes documentation on the procedure of issuing a complaint, the importance of safety in the organization, and their obligation to report any safety concerns immediately to the Safety Director, without any fear of discrimination or penalty, during employee orientation. When a complaint is issued, the Safety Director makes documentation of the complaints and any corrective actions taken to correct them.

G. Accident/Incidents Investigation - Are all loss-producing incidents investigated and effective prevention implemented/documented?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation immediately investigates any incident that results in personal injury or property damage, and develops written procedures to prevent them from happening again.

Best Practice: Company XYZ has clear instructions to their Safety Director to immediately investigate any accident that involves property damage or employee injury, or serious near miss from happening again. The report findings (especially the corrective measures to prevent re-occurrence) are discussed with all affected employees, as well as the Safety Committee.

H. Accident/Incidents Investigation (OSHA) - The company has a track record that includes no willful or repeat serious violations in the last three years, and no fatalities in the current year that resulted in citations.

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your company is free from any "willful" or "repeat" violations that have been part of an agreed entry for the last 3 years. Additionally, your company has not settleed for a "serious" violation.

I. Injury/Illness Analysis - Are trends fully analyzed and common causes communicated?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation fully analyzes the causes for any re-occurring accidents, and informs the effected employees on ways to avoid those accidents.

Best Practice: When an accident re-occurs at Company XYZ, the Safety Director fully reviews the situation by utilizing a customized database that identifies trends by: department, nature of injury, cost, day of the week, length of experience, etc. The director then develops a safe work process that will help prevent this accident from re-occurring again, and informs all affected employees of that safe work process.

III. 5.3 Hazard Prevention

A. Timely Hazard Control - Are hazard controls fully in place with priority to engineering controls, safe work procedures, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (in that order)?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has developed a method of controlling workplace hazards. This method is prioritized in trying to eliminate hazards in the order of: engineering out or around the hazard; developing safe work procedures for employees to follow; reducing employee exposure through job rotation; enforcing the use of PPE.

Best Practice: The Safety Committee of Company XYZ is trained in hazard prevention techniques and is focused on determining ways to engineer out or administratively reduce exposure before relying on the use of personal protective equipment.

B. Company/Equipment Maintenance - Is there an effective preventive maintenance program in place and applicable to equipment?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has scheduled regular maintenance inspections of company equipment. This written program effectively maintains equipment in good working order, and immediately takes any damaged or unsafe equipment out of service.

Best Practice: Company XYZ follows a thorough (equipment specific) checklist on all equipment on a scheduled basis.

C. Emergency Planning and Preparation - Do all personnel know immediately how to respond to emergencies as a result of effective planning, training, and drills?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has effectively trained employees to immediately respond in emergency situations by planning for the situations, conducting response training, and practicing drills. Each job-site also has a site specific Emergency Action Plan posted, and the employees at each site are trained on the procedures of that plan.

Best Practice: Company XYZ trains all employees prior to performing work in an orientation that describes what to do in emergency situations like fires, tornadoes, bomb threats, etc. Part of the companies pre-job planning is the development of an Emergency Action Plan for each job-site. The company then performs an emergency action drill that mocks different emergency situations once every six months.

D. Emergency Planning and Preparation - Is the company fully equipped for emergencies, all systems and equipment in place and regularly tested, all personnel know how to use equipment and communicate during emergencies?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation is equipped with proper equipment to reduce hazards in emergency situations, and regularly checks those supplies to ensure their effectiveness. Employees are also trained in the use of the supplies, and the proper communication procedures in case an emergency occurs.

Best Practice: Company XYZ has mounted fire extinguishers to control fires. The safety committee inspects fire extinguishers monthly for proper charge, mounting, labeling, and physical condition. Employees are trained on the proper technique of using a fire extinguisher along with when to use them. The employees are also instructed what actions to take and how to inform others in case of emergencies during orientation.

E. Medical Surveillance Program (as required) - Are occupational health providers designated and involved in Hazard Identification and Training where applicable?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation has designated a specific occupational medical facility to perform all required medical attention when needed. This designated facility coordinates with you for light duty/ restricted work issues, and may conduct medical screening.

Best Practice: Company XYZ has assigned Clinic Q as their designated medical facility, and takes all employees that need treatment only to that facility. Clinic Q provides Company XYZ with all medical treatment documents and results, along with any reasoning believed to cause the accidents. Clinic Q then instructs the company on ways to prevent them from re-occurring. The clinic also trains CPR and First Aid to all required employees from the company.

F. Medical Treatment Availability - When medical facilities are unavailable, are personnel with basic First-Aid skill always available onsite?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation always has a CPR and First-Aid trained person on site when medical facilities are more than three to five minutes away from the jobsite.

Best Practice: Company XYZ requires all foremen to be CPR and First-Aid Certified prior to conducting work. The company also requires foreman to stay on all job sites when work is being conducted, unless another competent person, trained in First Aid, is given those responsibilities during the absence of the foreman.

G. Substance Abuse - Do you have a written substance abuse policy that meets or exceeds the MICCS protocol?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporations substance abuse policy is of the same format as the MICCS substance abuse policy.

Best Practice: Company XYZ administers a substance abuse policy that incorporates all guidelines stated in the MICCS substance abuse policy. It also includes a well-communicated employee assistance program.

IV. 5.4 Safety and Health Training

A. Employees learn hazards, how to protect themselves and others - Does the company provide required safety training to include all applicable personnel prior to exposure?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that your corporation trains employees on how to protect themselves and others from all possible hazards prior to beginning work.

Best Practices: Company XYZ requires all new employees to attend a company orientation prior to conducting work. The orientation trains employees on various safety precautions including: what to do when an emergency occurs; where the Material Safety Data Sheets are located; what PPE to use when performing work; how to operate a fork lift and enter a confined space (if applicable), along with many other safety precautions. The employee also receives site specific training by the field superintendent.

B. Supervisors learn responsibilities and underlying reasons - Have supervisors received basic training, appear to understand and demonstrate importance of worksite analysis, physical protections, training reinforcement, discipline and knowledge of procedures?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that the supervisors in your corporation have been trained and have knowledge of conducting a safe work-site analysis, using proper protection, basic policy procedures, disciplinary actions, required training, and act in a manner to appropriately demonstrate and enforce these issues.

Best Practices: Company XYZ sends all foreman and above to an OSHA 10 Hour course. All foreman and above maintain their 10 hour certification within 2 years. They also train the Supervisors over the company's specific safety policies. The company reviews the performance of their Supervisors every six months and offers a potential pay increase in which 25% of that increase is determined by the safety of their jobs.

C. Managers learn Safety and Health Program Management - Do all managers follow and can explain their roles in Safety and Health Program Management?

*A "yes" answer would indicate that all management team members in your corporation follow safety and health guidelines and can explain what their roles are in the management of the Safety and Health Program.

Best Practices: All management team members are active members of the Safety Committee, and are required to attend an OSHA 30 Hour course. They are required to lead the safety committee's annual review of the company safety program. The manager's performances are reviewed annually in which 30% of their pay increase is determined by the safety of the company.