Project Personnel

The Four Stages of Project HSE Team Formation

When personnel are brought together to form a team working on a project there is always four stages that the new team members go through and happen in the following order:

1. Forming           Who’s involved, who’s in charge, who has what role?
2. Storming         Different ideas, processes and procedures are in play.
3. Norming          Processes emerge as project expectations are implemented.
4. Performing      Stakeholders shift to accommodate required elements.

All of these steps are involved in every project and must occur at a rapid rate due to the fact that the project ramps up as soon as there is a Notice to Proceed issued. There are internal elements that are in each of these four stages that will enhance or impede the rate that progress is made.

Forming

When individuals are brought on to a project, they bring their experience and preferred methods of completing their tasks, whatever the role that they’ve been hired to fill on the project. Speaking for the H&S role, this often brings issues as projects are usually short term, new prime, new subcontractors, and new personnel to engage with. The H&S program that will be utilized must be developed to accommodate all different types of work, each with industry specific norms that may or may not comply with the overriding PSSP but must become compliant in short order.

Storming

H&S personnel come with various attitudes and expectations of how a program should be run, what is acceptable in terms of expectations, documentation, daily activities, etc. These often create tension on a jobsite due to the personnel on site not being able to fulfill every company H&S individual’s expectation. This also occurs within the project levels of H&S personnel when company, subcontractors, and prime representatives offer different opinions, leaving personnel at site to choose what the acceptable practice is.

Norming

This step only occurs with time. There must be a period where everyone involved in the process has had input and starts to see personnel rise to start leading the group, procedures reviewed and agreed upon, crews become familiar with expected norms and work towards compliance, regardless of who or what level of H&S personnel is on site.

Performing

At this point of the project, most of the onboarding has been completed, roles and responsibilities clarified, and the H&S management process has been established. There will still be ongoing issues, but the “norms” have been established regarding expectations for documentation, incident reporting, inspections, and site requirements.

Health and Safety Individuals that are brought onto a project are often from different backgrounds and experience. This must be considered when managing the H&S system expectations and goals. There must be a clear understanding of what is expected of everyone and how they’re to interact with project personnel as the project matures. Safety policing will quickly place the H&S group against the workers at site, this must be recognized early and eliminated through communication across all levels of the H&S group.