Brittny Kehoe’s Fitbit is a virtual chronicle of the effort it takes to keep Westman Village a safe work place. The safety Coordinator at Jayman BUILT’s Westman Village clocks an astounding 20,000 - 30,0000 steps a day making her rounds around the 13.7-acre multi-building, multifaceted condo development being built in the southeast community of Mahogany.
In a development of this magnitude, where there can be as many as 450 workers at the site on a given day, safety can never be taken for granted.
It doesn’t take much for an accident to happen. It goes tenfold for such a massive undertaking when you take into account the various moving parts of an active construction site, the pressures of meeting deadlines and budgets, and unexpected elements like sudden weather.
It would seem that the whole enterprise is delicately balanced on a knife’s edge. But prepared-ness is the key, and the Jayman safety team takes their job seriously. After all, lives depend on it.
“We want to ensure that every new home we build is not only well-built and well-designed, but that no one was injured in its construction,” says Trevor Klein, who heads Jayman BUILT’s award-winning safety department.
During a behind-the-scenes tour of the Westman Village construction site that Trevor and Brittny took Condo Living on, it was clear just how massive the project was and the herculean effort needed to police safety there.
Trevor Klein and Brittny Kehoe
Westman Village was recently opened to the public and visitors no longer have to wear hard hats and steel-toed boots and safety vests to get around the show suites and Village Centre. But there is still construction going on.
“It is an active construction site, but we have to balance this with the needs of the sales and marketing department, so we frequently have visitors going through the site so constant vigilance is needed to ensure safety for all in all regards,” Trevor says.
Trevor oversees safety for all Jayman BUILT construction sites, (“My three year-old truck has over 250,000 kilometres on it already,” he chuckles.) while Brittny is in charge of the Westman Village site exclusively.
Their work has not gone unnoticed, as Jayman BUILT’s two-person safety team has received industry-wide recognition for their work. They won BILD Alberta’s Safety Leadership Award (Large-Volume Builder) at this year’s gala event in Jasper.
The Safety Leadership Awards recognize builder and general members for their dedication to safety. Each year awards are presented to those companies who have found an innovative approach to their safety programs and whose staff excel in safety.
They also recently won the Trailblazer Award from the Alberta Construction Safety Association (ACSA), which recognizes the innovations and achievements in safety of companies from the Alberta construction industry, along with their contributions to the local communities in the region.
“Safety is our top priority at Jayman, so to be recognized as a leader in the industry on safety is an incredible testament to our values,” says Dave Desormeaux, President, Jayman BUILT Single Family. “Putting safety first in all levels of our business, in the office and on building sites, ensures we do all that we can to help our employees to go home safely to their families.”
Trevor says these recognitions are confirmation of his core belief in the safety standards that he has put in place since starting work here six years ago. “This lets me know that we’re on the right path,” he tells Condo Living. But he says the real reward is having no one get hurt while doing their job.
“We’re building homes, and no home should have the stigma of having someone injured on the job site in the course of building it,” he says.
According to the Alberta Government Occupational Health and Safety report, there were 17 Workplace incident fatalities across eight sectors of industry year-to-date as of May 31, 2018. Five of those fatalities were from the Construction and Construction Trades Sector.
Accidents, especially fatal accidents, can cause tremendous delays in any project, adding to its cost. But Klein says losing a life on the job is itself too high of a cost.
Safety starts at the beginning. Every member of Jayman’s construction team and trade team have to go through a rigorous orientation process to familiarize themselves with safety protocols, including what safety gear to use in particular situations.
Brittny enforces those safety rules religiously at the Westman Village site. “Because our expectations are high, every now and then, workers need to be reminded of what we expect from them with regards to following safety,” she says. “Repetition is key, workers need to be familiar with our safety expectations of them,” Trevor adds.
Since launch of construction in October 2016, the project has only had three “reportable” incidents, none too serious that warranted any investigation, still each is a reminder of the dangers faced by workers daily at the site.
“Every day can bring a different challenge. It is a huge undertaking, there are a lot of moving parts, so we have to be on our toes and we ask each and every team member to be as well,” Brittny says. “Constant reminders are needed – thankfully we’ve had nothing too serious happen here,” she says. “Or on any of our job sites,” adds Trevor.
Trevor points out that even a three-foot fall can result in serious injury, so building a two-storey home needless to say can be precipitous. Imagine building several six-storey buildings like what they are doing in Westman Village.
Westman Village will have 887 multi-family homes on complete build out and will include the Calligraphy apartment-style condos, The Journey Club retirement and senior living suites, Odyssey active adult living, Lyric choice leasing, and the upscale Reflection luxury estate condominiums.
At its heart is the three-level, 40,000-square-foot Village Centre, which was always envisioned to be the beating heart of Westman Village’s social and cultural life.
It is a recreational facility by definition, but unlike anything Calgary’s seen before. It has two swimming pools, one with a waterslide; steam rooms in each the men’s and women’s washrooms; a spin studio; a fitness centre and a marketplace right next to the concierge desk. And that’s all just on the main floor.
The upper level has a gymnasium; a humidor outdoor terrace; library; indoor garden; billiards room; a $50,000 golf simulator room; a surround-sound theatre room; and a walking track that goes around the whole floor.
The lower level features a wine cellar where residents can rent wine racks in stately, temperature-controlled rooms; a fully equipped arts and crafts room; and a state-of-the-art wood working room.
“Seeing that come to life was quite an accomplishment,” Trevor says. It was opened to huge acclaim last December. “Building the Village Centre was a big challenge but opening it to visitors while construction was still on-going in other parts of Westman Village was quite a thorny safety issue. Thankfully, it all came to pass with no problem,” Trevor says.
Today, Westman Village is opening more new show suites as parts of the development are completed. Which means more visitors and more safety concerns, but the Jayman BUILT safety team, as always, is ready for those challenges.
