Leadership in Safety

Led from the top

Safety is not a department that sits off to the side at HSM Construction Management. It starts with our CEO, Hazim Gaber, and with Ghilda Gaber, our Director of Health & Safety. They set expectations for every project, and they expect project managers, trade leads and foremen to meet them.

When leaders treat safety as a condition of doing the work, not a cost added to it, crews notice. That is the culture we build from our Edmonton head office, our St. Albert office at 175 Carleton Dr, and every site we run in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Safety leadership also means being visible. Our leaders ask questions on site, listen to what crews tell them, and act on it. The standard is the same whether the project is a tenant improvement in St. Albert or a larger build elsewhere in the West.

One crew, one safety culture

Most general contractors manage a long list of subcontractors, each with its own habits and its own rules. HSM works differently. We self-perform most of our work with our own people, including electrical under a Master Electrician, mechanical (HVAC and plumbing), low voltage and security, interior systems, carpentry and millwork, painting, and doors and hardware.

That means nearly everyone on our sites works to the same safety standard, hears the same message and answers to the same leaders. There are fewer handoffs between companies, fewer gaps in who is responsible, and a much clearer line from the people who set the rules to the people who follow them.

It also keeps accountability simple. If a hazard is found, there is one company responsible for fixing it, and that company is us.

What safety looks like in practice

Good safety is mostly routine, done the same way every day. On an HSM site that includes:

• Planning each task and its hazards before work starts
• Leaders who walk the site and speak with the crew
• Training and orientation for everyone who steps on site
• The authority for any worker to stop work they believe is unsafe
• Clean, organized sites with a plan for emergencies
• Honest reporting of near misses so we can learn from them

Explore our approach

Each part of our safety work has its own page. Start with how we lead, then see how self-performing, hazard assessment and training shape daily work. You will also find pages on electrical safety, working at heights, occupied buildings, winter work, housekeeping, subcontractors, worker wellness, incident reporting and what all of this means for clients.

• Safety leadership
• Self-performing and safety
• Hazard assessment and job planning
• Training and competency
• Electrical safety
• Working at heights
• Safety in occupied buildings
• Winter and cold-weather safety
• Site housekeeping and emergency response
• Subcontractor safety
• Health and wellness
• Near misses and incident reporting
• What safety means for clients

Why it matters to you

A safe site is a predictable site. Fewer injuries mean fewer stoppages, steadier schedules and less disruption for the people who work and live around the project. If you are renovating inside an occupied building, careful safety planning also protects your staff, tenants and visitors.

We do not publish numbers we cannot stand behind, and we do not rely on slogans. We rely on leaders who show up, crews who are trained, and a habit of fixing problems early.

For anyone planning a project, the practical point is this: safety is considered at the start, alongside design, budget and schedule, and not added at the end.