As Shawmut Design and Construction security manager, Shaun Carvalho has been the strength of several security initiatives. Talked to the correspondent Enr Elaine Silver about how Boston -based company guides new subcontractors and how it responds when there is a clear security problem or Reasonable suspicion of a related to mental health or drug abuse. The conversation has been edited.
How does Shawmut bring your security culture to subcontractors?
Before a subcontractor arrives, we sit with his managers to discuss how they align with Shawmut’s safety expectations. A large part of this is our Environmental Health and Health Manual, which we publicly make available to Shawmut.com, not only for internal use, but also as a deliberate resource for our partners. If a subcontractor has no detailed security forms or processes, it can adopt ours.
A key part of the specific safety orientation of our site is a 30 -minute video that covers basic elements such as personal protection equipment, the risk “ energy wheel ” that can cause severe incidents and deeper topics such as the use of substances, the awareness of suicide and mental health. We show this video at all Shawmut jobs across the country. This is just the beginning.
How do you translate your security program into an impact of the real world?
It comes to fostering an environment where people feel comfortable talking and where our teams are equipped to notice -and act when something does not work. One of the biggest shifts took place with our monthly talks on the culture of care theins, which we launched by 2021. They address the awareness of suicide, harassment, mental health, substance use disorders, PSD. Since 2018, we have had a reduction of 47% of injuries due to technology and our programs. It is constant progress.
Can you share examples of a worker looking for help when you fight or a supervisor intervene to solve a problem?
Last year in a Shawmut place in Massachusetts, a merchant who worked for one of our subcontractors and part of a Union, called his crew leader at 6 am. But 30 minutes later, they found it near the construction door. The team’s response was incredible: the members called 911 immediately to help medicine, but they did not stop. In the past, they could have said, “You go to the hospital and do not return.” Instead, they took a different path: the crew leader, Union Steward, our Shawmut project team, representative of the subcontractor, is together. And even the union business agent in the place. It was not our place to do with drugs or something else, what imported it supported him. He was transferred from medical care to improved treatment that same day.
And that makes the difference because …?
Because construction is a tribal labor. The average worker could achieve 11 projects a year, bouncing among our places, the places of the competitors and again. If we had to ban it, we would be shot by the tin along the road and probably would end with us. Our approach is to intervene early, provide real help and establish a worker to be healthier wherever he works.
Fostering this care culture generates loyalty between workers and subcontractors to Shawmut?
I’m sure yes.
Is it allowed to ask workers about their health or mental health status during contracting, especially considering how many people are in psychiatric medicines?
No, we are not allowed to ask about the state of health or mental health, which has no legally limits, and this is to protect the privacy of a worker.
But if a worker wants to talk …?
Workers may choose to share information with us, as if they are in medicines or want us to have emergency contacts in the file. We do not promote private details, but if someone takes something that can affect security, for example, working in Heights or executing heavy machinery, we would like to know why we can keep this person in safer papers, such as tasks at the ground level. Legally, we cannot ask it, and we do not [even though] When it comes to drugs and alcohol, prescribed or not, we have a strict policy of zero tolerance in the place.
If a manager realizes that the employee of a subcontractor seems outside, how is this managed?
We train our teams with a reasonable suspicion: how to detect subtle signs that someone may be damaged or struggled, without jumping to the judgments. If a manager realizes something with
An information session related to security in a Shawmut project. Photo: Courtesy of Shawmut Design and Construction
An employee of the subcontractor, the approach is deliberate and team -based. The Sub used to attract the worker’s crew leader and our security staff, follow our training protocols and have a quiet conversation with facts. The focus does not focus on punishment: it is to guarantee security and find out if it takes support.
An example?
I was walking in one of our project sites with a security colleague who picked up a roof that acted a bit strange at 9 am, nothing at my gaze, just enough that I didn’t even take it. I had doubts, thinking, “Is it soon, really?” But it was suspected that the worker could be drunk. We did not go alone; We involved the Superintendent and its crew leader, followed our reasonable training of suspicion and talked to Himthe Worker. Admitted that he had been drinking. We acted quickly: we certainly took it out of the place, offered to call a taxi or a friend because he couldn’t drive and we made sure he was not abandoned.
What about suicide prevention?
We offer talks and an hour -long online training and we have a mental health and well -being leadership group, which co -president with 70 volunteers.
Is there any specific example of how your program helps?
In 2023, in a large place, a security coordinator checked someone who struggled to bring his family to another country. Through an interpreter, he said he would end if the roof was open. It was closed, luckily. The coordinator embraced him, provided resources, combined him with a friend, and followed. Now thrown, the family met, all because someone was human enough to intervene.
A final thought?
Some companies are all seeing the urgent need to deal with mental health and safety. Others continue to warm up, need a little fist or a little inspiration to jump on board. But they are achieved slowly, and this is what feeds us: we know that we are making an impact, a place, a worker, a conversation at a time.
