Bill Michie

According to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 20.5% of all workplace fatalities in 2014 occurred in the construction industry. That equals 874 people in one year, or 2.4 people per day. As a statistic this may not seem like a large number, but I think about it a different way.

In 2014, 2.4 families lost a loved one every day. In 2014, 874 families lost a brother or sister – a mom or a dad.

My topic for this semester will be focused on construction safety communications, specifically developing content to remind my colleagues why we work safe. We work safe so we can go home to our families, enjoy our hobbies, and live long fulfilling lives. The objective of my semester project is to emotionally connect my colleagues to safety. If successful, they will make safety the ultimate priority in their work practices.

As a marketer in the contruction industry, safey communications are a very relevant part of my job. The company I work for has been focused on eliminating accidents and injuries on our jobsites by changing the way we work and reinforcing safety as a core value. This has required a substantial communication effort, both internally and externally. I have supported these efforts by helping standardize on-site safety signage, developing graphics promoting safety and communicating our safety commitment to clients.

As shown in the image at the top of this post, we have experimented with the emotional approach in our communications but have not committed to a multimedia approach. After brainstorming for a bit I came up with the following multimedia plan for my remaining coursework.

I am excited to get started on this project and look forward to the creative and technical challenge.  This topic presents a perfect opportunity to test and measure the emotional connection to safety and explore the role of multimedia in safety communications.

Please feel free to share your feedback!