Winter is just around the corner! For every Minnesotan, the cold season means slow driving, excessive clothing layers, and the occasional work and school cancellation. While everyone who lives here must make a slight lifestyle adjustment, those in the construction industry often must radically change their approach to their work in below-zero temperatures. Winter-weather-conscious work ensures the longevity of various pieces of construction equipment, but it’s also done out of respect for the employees themselves. After all, frostbite on the job certainly is no fun.
What do ethical wintertime construction project management practices, like those so valued at Miller Architects and Builders, look like? We explain a bit of our philosophy below.
Ethical Construction Management Companies, like Miller, Value Workers
At Miller, our construction management team understands how hardworking and tough our commercial contractors are. A career in manual labor isn’t for the faint of heart! We believe that showing commercial contractors and subcontractors respect is not only well-deserved, but the proper way of doing ethical business.
In winter weather, showing respect for workers and valuing their skillsets boils down to creating the safest working environment possible. Ethical construction managers can do this by:
- Putting themselves in their workers’ shoes. Construction managers work on the more logistical side of things—that is, they run and dictate the project as opposed to doing the manual labor. As such, they tend to work from heated offices on the construction sites. Although a construction manager’s job isn’t easy by any means, it can sometimes be difficult to grasp the extent of the cold if you’re not standing in it for a while (as anyone who lives here will tell you!). Ethical construction managers like those at Miller ask themselves periodically if the temperature or wind chill would be comfortable to be in for an extended period of time, as their workers will be, and adjust their plans accordingly.
- Knowing basic signs of cold stress. Construction workers are tough. However, being tough does not excuse the fact that the cold here can be fatal if proper precautions are not taken. Ethical construction managers, for the sake of their workers, should be familiar with the basic signs of cold stress. Part of their job description, after all, is creating a safe work environment.
- Not being afraid to slow down. Speedy construction is never worth worker injury. If conditions are too icy or cold, ethical construction management will not be afraid to hold their team back if it means everyone stays safe.
See What Proper Ethics Can Do for Your Next Project: Contact Miller Today
We know ethical construction management because we’ve been practicing it since 1874. It’s allowed us to build a talented staff of architects and construction managers who would love to direct your next project. Contact our Saint Cloud office today at 1-800-772-1758.