Issuu

THE

SAFETY NET

IT’S ALWAYS SAFETY FIRST.

CO N SU LT | D E S I G N | E N G I N E E R | CO N S T RU C T

SEPTEMBER 2026

VOLUME 20 ISSUE 03

SAFETY PERFORMANCE – IT’S ALL IN YOUR BRAIN PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: NIPPON SHOKKEN PHASE II HARNESS PROTECTION SAFETY FIRST. Austin employees have worked 9,587,455 hours without a Lost Time Accident through 08/2026.

CONTENTS TABLE OF

MOVING THE NEEDLE ON SAFETY PERFORMANCE

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: NIPPON SHOKKEN

DO HARNESSES HAVE A DEFINED EXPIRATION DATE?

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: MIKAELA MORALES

SAFETY NET | SEPTEMBER 2026

EVENTS THIS QUARTER SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, AND NOVEMBER SEPTEMBER 11 9/11 Memorial

SEPTEMBER 21-25 National Construction Appreciation Week

OCTOBER 5-9 World Space Week

NOVEMBER Aviation History Month

NOVEMBER 26 Thanksgiving

TRAININGS AND CONFERENCES END OF SEPTEMBER Liberty Mutual Inspections Nippon Shokken and GKN

COMING IN OCTOBER 30hr OSHA and First Aid/CPR Course Cleveland Office

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED Sign up by emailing julysa.garcia@theaustin.com These trainings are required for field personnel.

MOVING THE NEEDLE MOVING THE NEEDLE IN SAFETY PERFORMANCE—IT’S ALL IN YOUR BRAIN DEKRA on the Safe Side | 2022

The oil and gas industry involves some of the most

portion of the workforce. So why are incidents still

dynamic, complex, and high-hazard working

occurring? Many argue that attaining zero is not

environments in the world. When workers and

achievable, because people are error prone. They

equipment interface, exposures run high. As a

say that some people are just prone to making errors

result, the industry is on the leading edge of safety

because of how we are wired.

practices, systems, and processes—working toward

Well, those who make these arguments might be

a reduction of injuries and incidents, thereby, lessening its impact on the environment.

onto something.

But being at the forefront came at a significant cost.

IT’S NOT THE WORKER’S FAULT

The best practices leading the industry in reducing

When incidents occur, the common reaction is to

injuries, exposures, and environmental impact

blame the worker and to say that the worker didn’t

were sparked by the 1988 Piper Alpha incident

know enough, didn’t have the capabilities, or simply

that took 167 lives. Crucial lessons were learned,

just didn’t care.

and the industry gained a greater understanding

Placing blame on the worker can be a dangerous

of how culture, leadership, and behavior all impact safety performance.

road to go down. It can erode trust and destroy the culture. And more important, it does not get

Since that turning point, operators, contractors,

to the root of the human error that contributed to

and service providers have been placing a greater

the incident.

emphasis on having initiatives that develop culture

Blaming the worker leads to easy fixes, like retraining

and leaders. In addition, implementing near-miss and behavior-based programs focusing on observation and feedback has been just as important. And there have been more resources invested to help reduce—and eliminate—exposure that leaves people vulnerable to workplace incidents. All these efforts have helped reduce injuries and undesired safety events. But is all that enough? Even with the great strides made across the industry, there continues to be imperfections in health, safety, and environmental performance that harm workers who complete similar tasks without injury time and time again. Injuries don’t just affect poor performers and those with limited experience. With the recent downturn in the industry operators and contractors are doing more with less. High performers—typically those with more experience —currently represent the largest

SAFETY NET | SEPTEMBER 2026

or disciplinary action. While these corrective actions may be necessary in some cases, most incidents involved good, knowledgeable, and capable workers. Therefore, fixing the person is not an acceptable solution. Why? Because we are all similarly wired, and that sets us up to be imperfect and to make errors. Remember, simply understanding that we, humans, make mistakes is not enough.” The answer can be found in what Oscar Wilde said: “It is not the prisoners who need reformation, it is the prisons.” This is true for our industry as well. Instead of trying to fix a person, organizations must change how they design work and work-related activities to fit that person. Consistently accomplishing job tasks accurately, completely, efficiently, and based on agreed-upon procedures and standards of

excellence is best done through applying knowledge

reaction and habit without consciously thinking through

of how we are wired.

the situation and the information available to us.

We need to create a human-work interface that

When it comes to most activities in which safety is

maximizes Right First Time: ensuring that job tasks are

paramount, ideally, we want slowbrain functioning,

performed right the first (and every) time. Fixing the

which is more analytical and gives us time to make

work environment requires an understanding of how

safe decisions. After all, fast-brain functioning can

the brain works and of how visualization plays a role in

lead to human error, because it relies more on habits—

the decisions we make.

disastrous in a situation that requires stepping outside

HOW THE HUMAN BRAIN OPERATES The human brain is actually several brains housed in one. Two key components of the brain include the cerebrum and the paleomammalian cortex. The cerebrum, or the “slow brain,” is the part of the brain that consciously processes information. It analyzes, solves problems, and makes decisions.

the lines to accomplish an unplanned task safely. Fast-brain functioning is most prominent when involving repetitive tasks and among experienced workers who have fallen into the trap of accomplishing tasks the way they have always accomplished tasks. Take the example of an incident that occurred during a milling operation on an offshore platform, where a solids control (swarf) unit was integrated with the drilling fluids system for removing solids. During such an operation,

The paleomammalian cortex, or the “fast brain,” also

solids could plug the hoses. This could result in fluids

processes information, but it does so at a greater

backing up and in losing primary containment. In

speed. And it moves us into action based upon

FAST BRAIN Automatic Unconscious Effortless Routine Intuitive/ Havit-driven

SLOW BRAIN Deliberate

50%

Conscious Effortful/Draining

We are in fast brain mode as much as 50% of the time

New/Complex Analytical Impaired by Fatigue, Illness or Stress

Emotional/ Reactive Responses this instance, solids began to plug the hose to the unit.

through activities that, while quite similar, are

The solids control operator communicated to the drill

often different in a highly complex and dynamic

floor to cut the pumps, believing that the driller would

work environment commonly found in the oil

completely turn off the pumps.

and gas industry.

Instead, the driller reduced the pumping rate, resulting in the backup of fluids and the loss of primary containment. As they had always done, the drill crew

TIPS FOR PRIMING SLOW-BRAIN USE

used the term “cut” synonymously with “reduce”;

Create engagement in pre-work activities, such as

whereas, the solids control operator understood “cut”

pre-job safety briefs. Dig deeper by using follow-up

to mean shut off.

questions that promote such specific responses as:

In this situation, human error was a significant

• What is different this time doing a familiar job?

contributing factor to the serious adverse safety

• What could go wrong (that is, cause a process

event. The human error, related to the brain-centered hazard, is known as fast-brain functioning. Here, the driller’s actions aligned with how he and his crew had always interpreted “cut the pumps.”

HOW TO PRIME SLOW-BRAIN FUNCTIONING The slow brain is not a light switch. People do not choose to turn it off and on. The brain finds opportune moments to conserve energy and uses the fast brain, which uses less energy than the slow brain. It does this during tasks that have been done before. Driving is a great example of when the brain functions using the fast brain. Work activities must be designed with this in mind. They need to prime people to consciously think

SAFETY NET | SEPTEMBER 2026

or personal safety event)? • How will the team prevent those potential undesired events? • Transform your work-site engagements by focusing on exposure due to brain-centered hazards and by asking workers how they are controlling specific exposures. • Plan high-risk job tasks at more optimal times of the day, when energy is higher. • Create effective SOPs and risk assessments that identify exposure to braincentered hazards and appropriate techniques for managing them.

ENHANCING VISUAL RECOGNITION Workers are also wired in a way that misses information that is key to completing a job accurately and safely. We can miss information for a variety of reasons. But, quite often, we simply see what we expect to see. This is known as expectation bias. It is analogous to why motorcycles are involved in so

Given the complex, dynamic nature of the work environment in the oil and gas industry, it is important to understand how we are wired. Simply hiring great people, retraining workers or disciplining workers will only continue to mask the underlying humanperformance issues and not reduce the potential for human error, which could result in undesired events.

many accidents on highways—people simply do not

If the industry wants to transform the current safety

see them because they are looking for larger vehicles.

performance, it is imperative that it understand how

Take the example of an incident that occurred on the cargo deck of an offshore installation. Typically,

we are wired, that is, how our brains work and how brain-centered hazards play a role in human error.

the deck is filled with large equipment and cargo

No one is immune to making errors. And yet,

containers sitting on a series of raised beams.

whenever there is human error in such a high-hazard

Roustabouts maneuver containers into tight spaces

environment, the costs can be quite significant.

around other containers that are easily visible. When

Priming slowbrain functioning and developing a

walking in the area, as many roustabouts must

more strategic approach to the visual recognition

do, the obvious exposure is the other containers’

of exposures are paramount to increasing safety

being backloaded and landed in the area, as well

consistency in human performance. As each

as the exposure to the beams that could result in

control is imperfect, it is key to implement multiple

someone tripping. On this day, the deck was free of

layers of controls.

large containers. Roustabouts were laying out lifting gear across the beams to backload for testing and recertification onshore. As a crew member stepped over a deck beam, he stepped on a lifting sub that was in between the beams, rolling his ankle and resulting in a fracture. While other factors contributed to this incident, visual recognition, a brain-centered hazard, is highly relevant. A general scan of the environment did not identify any additional exposures, because those that typically exist in the area were not present. Thus the brain did not identify anything else out of the ordinary or anything that required further, or different, actions, which might have been taken had the exposure been identified. In the complex, dynamic, and high-hazard environment seen in the upstream oil and gas industry, visual recognition is paramount to reducing exposures. Expecting workers to have good situational awareness is not enough. Many undesired safety events have

HOW TO ENHANCE VISUAL RECOGNITION • IMPLEMENT a strategy that looks broadly to identify hard-to-see exposures. Like a hunter, a worker can divide the field of vision into smaller chunks in order to search for exposures that are most likely to result in incidents. • USE brain-aligned checklists for critical exposures that could result in serious injuries and fatalities. • DESIGN work-related activities that include a conversation on what has changed or on what is different. • ESTABLISH specific pause points to reassess the work site for changes that could create additional or different exposures.

occurred because of poor visual recognition of exposures. In this complex landscape, it is extremely difficult for a worker to identify all the exposures simply by performing a general scan—even more so if the worker has no strategy.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT NIPPON SHOKKEN PHASE II LOCATION:

MILESTONES:

• West Sacramento, CA

• Site Mobilization 2/25/2026

SCHEDULE:

• Site Grading Start 3/11/2026

• Mobilization 2/2026

• Building Permit 6/12/2026

• Project Completion 2/2028

• Foundation Pour Complete 8/25

DESCRIPTION:

• Tilt Up Panels Poured 9/3

• New Building addition to expand an existing sauce

• Structural Steel Erection Start 9/21

manufacturing facility.

PROJECT TEAM:

VALUE:

• Gene Uwabo – Project Executive

• Budget $95M, Design-Build GMP

• Jason Middleton – Senior Project Manager

SIZE

• Roger Renoblas – Project Manager

• Total SF 194,144

• Moto Tomita – Project Manager

• 129,843 SF First Floor

• Toshi Ono – Project Manager

• 11,542 SF Sub-Mezzanine

• Johnny-Ray Helton – QA/QC Manager

• 52,759 SF 2nd Floor

• Karen Krzywkowski – Project Engineer

FUNCTION OF SPACE:

• Ed Wright – Food Manufacturing SME

• Accessory Storage Areas, Mechanical Equipment Room • Locker Rooms • Assembly – Accessory • Warehouse – Distribution Portion • Business Areas • Industrial/Production Areas

FOUNDATION: • Footings & Grade Beams

STRUCTURE: • Concrete Tilt-Up Wall Panels • Structural Steel Framing

SAFETY NET | SEPTEMBER 2026

• Karen Schlesinger – Design Project Manager • Ryota Tsuchiya – MEP/Process Coordinator • Tatsuki Tanaka – MEP Manager • Henry Nguyen – Project Accountant • Mick Miyake – Owner Liaison • Bill Kobayashi – Operations Manager • Rob O’Neil – Electrical Engineer • Oleg Boguslavsky – Structural Engineer • Jason Kolons – Engineer • Mike Mladenoff – Permit DPM

DO FALL PROTECTION HARNESSES HAVE A DEFINED EXPIRATION DATE? MSA Safety | April 4, 2026

Factors That Impact The Lifespan of a Fall Harness and a Five-Step Procedure For Inspection One of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to fall protection PPE is “Do fall harnesses have a defined expiration date?” While in years past, the typical recommendation would have been a five-year lifespan, that is not always the case. So, is there a fall protection harness expiration date, beyond which they’re deemed unusable? The answer is both yes … and no. Here’s why.

WHO DEFINES A FALL PROTECTION HARNESS’S EXPIRATION DATE OR END OF LIFE? There is no such thing as a predetermined or mandated expiration date on fall protection harnesses. According to OSHA, ANSI, and CSA, there are no current codes or standards that set a specific time period for taking a harness out of service. Even most manufacturers will not suggest how long a harness will last. In fact, the only person who can truly determine when a harness is due for removal is the user or a competent, trained inspector. More important than who determines its end of life is what determines it.

THE POTENTIAL PROBLEM WITH A MANDATED EXPIRATION DATE Having a mandated expiration date for a fall protection harness may seem like a good thing at first glance. However, a definite expiration date could impact things like wearer complacency; for example, the user might skip inspecting for defects each time the harness is used, as long as it is within the anticipated lifespan. And a false sense of security may cause the recommended annual competentperson inspection to be put off or even skipped.

THINGS THAT AFFECT A FALL PROTECTION HARNESS’S USEFUL LIFESPAN Any harness subjected to a fall arrest must be taken out of service immediately. Do not use the harness after the impact event. It must be labeled as unusable and removed from service until destroyed. In addition, as with any PPE (personal protective equipment), a full-body fall protection harness must be cared for and used properly. Some of the things that may affect lifespan adversely are: • Snagging on protruding objects might cause tears to the harness’s fabric or stitching. This can cause a weak spot that could fail during a fall arrest.

SAFETY NET | SEPTEMBER 2026

• Coating or saturation of paints and other chemicals can weaken the synthetic materials used in the webbing construction. Remove these contaminants as soon as possible, following the manufacturer’s guidelines to avoid further deterioration. • Excessive exposure to UV rays or sunlight may cause deterioration or weakening of synthetic fibers. When the harness is not in use, store it away from sunlight. • Exposure to caustics and acids may deteriorate the metal components, such as the D-ring and buckles. Clean these items as soon as possible using approved methods. • Improper storage methods can damage the harness. The harness should be stored in a hanging position so that the webbing can “relax.” Hang the harness by the D-ring, not the webbing. • Any harness subjected to a fall arrest must be taken out of service immediately. Do not use the harness after the impact event. It must be labeled as unusable and removed from service until destroyed.

THE ONLY WAY TO DETERMINE A HARNESS’S USABILITY IS THROUGH ROUTINE INSPECTION Checking the harness carefully for damage is the only reliable way to determine its condition. This includes a pre-use check by the user before donning the equipment, and periodic inspections by a qualified, competent inspector. A competent inspector will be trained in proper inspection procedures and should document each harness’s inspection with a log sheet. An inspector should not be the person wearing that particular harness. The log sheet used should match the exact harness. The closer look an inspector gives the equipment ensures the harness is inspected properly. ANSI recommends that formal inspections should be done at intervals of no more than six months; CSA recommends that inspections by a competent person should be completed at least once a year. If a harness has not been formally inspected within a six-month period, MSA recommends that it be taken out of service and tagged unusable until a formal inspection is completed, including documentation.

A FIVE STEP PROCEDURE FOR HARNESS INSPECTION FIVE STEPS TO FOLLOW WHEN DOING A FORMAL INSPECTION. 1.

INSPECT ALL WEBBING AND STITCHING Check for cuts, fraying, pulled or broken threads, abrasions, excessive wear, altered or missing straps, burns, UV damage, and heat and chemical exposures. Starting at one end of a webbing length, grasp the webbing with hands eight inches apart and flex the fabric. This can expose any defects not seen with the webbing in a straight alignment.

INSPECT ALL METAL OR PLASTIC COMPONENTS OF THE HARNESS All harness buckles should work freely, engaging and disengaging fully and smoothly. Make sure each type of buckle, including any quick-connect buckle, is functioning properly. Look for deformation, crack, corrosion, deep pitting or burrs, sharp edges, nicks or cuts, exposure to excessive heat or chemicals, and any other damage. Missing, loose or improperly working parts should be noted. This should include both metal and plastic components.

INSPECT ALL LOAD INDICATORS Load indicators are sections of the harness webbing that are folded over and stitched securely. Ripped stitching, even if only partially separated, is an indicator that the harness has been subjected to a fall and is no longer providing adequate protection. Remove the harness from service immediately. Mark it as unusable and remove from service until destroyed.

INSPECT ALL LABELS To fully pass inspection, labels must be present and readable. Make sure the unique identifier for the harness is legible so that it can be marked properly on the log sheet.

COMPLETE ALL INSPECTION DOCUMENTATION A formal inspection is not done until the paper work is filled out. Create a log sheet, covering all the check points for the harness. Complete, fully itemized inspection checklists are available for all MSA V-SERIES® harnesses. These checklists have a place to enter condition codes and overall assessment scores, and room for the inspector to make comments. Keep in mind that an assessment doesn’t work on a sliding scale. The component, no matter what it is, gets a Pass or Fail rating. There is no in-between.

SAFETY NET | SEPTEMBER 2026

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HT G I L T SPO

MIKAELA MORALES ASSISTANT PROJECT MANAGER Three years with Austin What project are you currently working on (and where is it located)? L3Harris Project SAMT - Palm Bay, FL

SAFETY NET | SEPTEMBER 2026

WORK AND CULTURE What part of your job are you most proud of? I’m most proud of earning my team’s trust. Being someone others can rely on and helping move the project forward is the most rewarding part of my job. What’s one thing you wish people who don’t work in the field better understood about your day‑to‑day work? Every day is different. You’re constantly balancing priorities, coordinating with different people, and adapting to unexpected challenges. How does your team support each other on the job? My team is always willing to help and answer questions. We work together to solve problems and make sure everyone has what they need to be successful.

VALUES AND SAFETY What does “Results, not Excuses®” mean to you in your role? It means focusing on solutions instead of obstacles. In construction, things don’t always go as planned, but my role is to adapt, communicate, and help find a way forward. Share a piece of safety advice or a lesson you’ve learned. Finish the sentence: “My Reason for Safety is…” My reason for safety is the people I work with. We all have a responsibility to watch out for each other and create a jobsite where everyone feels safe.

PERSONAL Do you have any hobbies, special skills, or hidden talents? I enjoy being creative outside of work, whether it’s trying new recipes, decorating, or finding small projects to take on. I’m always up for learning something new. What’s something about you that might surprise your coworkers? At work, I can come across as quiet and reserved, but outside of work I’m a true extrovert. I enjoy meeting new people, having conversations, and creating connections with those around me.

THE AUSTIN COMPANY IS VIGILANT ABOUT SAFETY

BE VIGILANT UNCOMPROMISED SAFETY

9+ MILLION

EMR RATE

Work hours without a lost time incident

.86

SAFETY NET | SEPTEMBER 2026

2026