Keeping Our Customers Safe Is Good Business

It makes good business sense to protect the health and well-being of each of our employees, not only because it reduces our liability in case of an accident, but because we need to be responsible stewards of the most important part of our company: our people. That’s why SBCA has developed so many best practice training programs (think: Operation Safety) and publications (think: safety posters) geared toward helping component manufacturers (CMs) establish a strong safety culture in our production facilities. It only makes sense, then, to extend that thinking to our customers, and do everything we can to help them keep their employees healthy.

It was with that thought in mind that my buddy Don Groom, while he was in the framing business (now General Manager at Panel Truss Texas), began exploring how we could leverage SBCA best practice programs and, as manufacturers, help framers address safety concerns on the jobsite. When he reflected back on his past experience in the framing industry, he acknowledged there is a disconnect between our two industries. CMs produce a superior framing product, but we aren’t necessarily as engaged as we should be in how those products can be handled and installed in a safe manner.

In talking to Groom about it, he told me, “after spending over 25 years in the truss industry, and being involved in SBCA both on the national and local levels, I had an opportunity to be involved in a framing company for a few years. It enlightened me, in a major way, on how important it is for CMs to be involved in what is happening in the field. The success of all CMs, really of all suppliers of construction products, is ultimately tied to the success of the companies that install our products.”

Groom approached one of his employer’s longtime customers, George Hull of Hull & Associates Framing Company, and they discussed a wide variety of opportunities for collaboration. They quickly realized that the best way to put into action many of those ideas was through a national organization that could act as the collective voice for the framing industry. The formation of the National Framers Council (NFC) as a council of SBCA was suggested as a way to give framers such a group that would also bring manufacturers alongside them to address framing issues. An initial meeting was held in July 2013 at the SBCA offices to discuss the synergies and collaboration potential between SBCA and NFC. Everyone at the initial meeting saw many positives and wanted to move forward with more concrete planning.

“NFC is a natural progression to meet the demands of the complexity in our industry with regard to safety, building technologies and the utilization of those technologies. The council objectives are to reinforce and educate its members of common practices nationally by creating a high standard in operations,” said Hull, adding, “NFC also hopes to bring more professionalism to the industry, promote its growth, and attract labor to meet the demands of today’s market.”

From there, a broader planning meeting was held at the conclusion of BCMC. An even mix of about 50 framers, CMs and industry suppliers discussed the mission and goals of NFC. They agreed the primary mission of the organization should be to focus on preserving the safety of framers to make sure they return home each day as healthy as they were when they arrived at the jobsite. It’s an important goal, and one with which we CMs can definitely identify.

I agreed with Groom when he told me, “having SBCA working hand in hand with NFC will enable us to be involved, and I believe together these two organizations can achieve great things for the construction industry.”

As a first step, NFC is collecting framer safety manuals from various regions of the country, in an attempt to formulate a national safety manual stating the “best of” best practices. This safety manual will cover everything from fall protection and proper jobsite equipment use to installation practices and proper body mechanics.

Once the safety manual is completed, the content will be used to develop a series of best practice lunch-and-learn programs and broader training programs for framing companies to use to train new employees and also to certify veteran framers. The goal is to engrain best practices into a professional framing culture. It’s pretty similar to how we train our own employees. Typically, we sit them down right after they start and make sure they know all the risks they face and ways to avoid getting hurt. In most cases, there’s not only a “right” way to do something, there’s a “best” way to do something, and that’s what we try to show them before any bad habits develop.

I think the installation piece will be the part where CMs can help and learn the most. From Groom and Hull’s perspective, the disconnect between us manufacturers and the framers contributes to bad design decisions that frustrate framers, and ultimately our customer, the builder. The more we have an open dialogue between our two industries, the more we will be able to identify “unbuildable” buildings and find solutions where both the CM and framer win.

In the end, the framer can be our industry’s greatest advocate. If framers have a positive experience installing components, they’re going to want to continue installing them. That preference, over time, can convince a builder to switch from conventional to componentized framing. I’ve seen it happen many times, and it’s far more effective than a bunch of sales calls. Once this happens, improving component use through the eyes of framers strengthens each of our businesses and our industry overall.

I’m excited to see NFC get off the ground and look forward to being part of the collaborative discussions planned throughout 2014. I encourage all of you to consider participating in the process. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being involved in SBCA and BCMC, it’s that the value of the relationships you build through these organizations and face-to-face meetings is immeasurable.