Small to Mid-size Project Implementation of Safety

Safety Implementation on Special and Mid-Sized Projects: How to Get Operational Control With a Small Team

Special and mid-sized projects can feel like a trap. On paper, they’re “smaller,” so people assume they should be easier. In reality, they’re often harder than big projects because you don’t get the same staff, the same support, or the same margin for error. You might have one superintendent, limited field engineering coverage, rotating short-duration trade partners, and a site that still has real complexity—tight logistics, existing facilities, public exposure, and zero room for safety mistakes.

Jason Schroeder’s point in this episode is that safety excellence is not reserved for massive jobs with full-time safety managers. You can build remarkable safety and operational control on a special project, but you have to design the system intentionally. You can’t “wing it” and hope the superintendent will babysit the site into compliance. And the principle that should drive everything is this: “Everything must be adapted to your circumstances on the project.”

The “Holiday Ham” Problem: Why We Waste Effort Without Knowing Why

Jason opens with a story that hits because it’s familiar. A family keeps cutting the ends off the ham every holiday. Everyone does it because everyone has always done it. Eventually someone asks why, and the answer is simple: the original pan was too small. The habit continued long after the constraint disappeared.

Construction does this all the time. We inherit habits, checklists, and meetings without understanding what they were designed to solve. We keep doing them even when the project conditions have changed. Then we wonder why we’re exhausted and still not in control. The lesson is not to throw away tradition. The lesson is to be intentional. If you want a safety implementation that works on a mid-sized job, you stop copying big-project systems blindly and start building a right-sized system that protects people with the staff you actually have.

Why Special and Mid-Sized Projects Can Be Harder Than Big Projects

Big projects usually come with infrastructure. There’s staff. There’s coverage. There are specialists. There are systems and routines that don’t collapse when one person is in a meeting. Special projects often don’t have that luxury.On a mid-sized job, you might be dealing with complex work next to an operating facility, with patient or public traffic, sensitive utilities, and high visibility. In those environments, one safety failure is not just an incident, it’s a reputational event. Yet the team is still expected to perform with less support.

This is where leaders get crushed. They try to run the project with willpower. They try to be everywhere. They try to personally catch every issue. That’s not sustainable. The system failed them; they didn’t fail the system. If the project plan depends on one person’s presence to prevent incidents, the plan is broken.

The Goal: Operational Control With One Superintendent and a Small Support System

Jason keeps coming back to a clear goal: operational control. That means the jobsite has stable expectations, predictable routines, and a cadence that makes unsafe behavior difficult to hide. It also means the superintendent is not stuck doing administrative work all day while the field runs unmanaged. Operational control isn’t created by yelling “safety first.” It’s created by a system that makes safety normal: clear onboarding, visible training, daily huddles, pre-task planning, clean zones, quick correction, and accountability that doesn’t rely on constant confrontation.

This connects directly to LeanTakt thinking. Flow requires stability, and stability requires control. If the jobsite is chaotic, safety will always be reactive. If the jobsite is stable, safety can be proactive.

Build Capacity First: Coverage Help and Smart Cost-to-Work Choices

One of the most practical points in the episode is that leaders must build capacity before they try to improve outcomes. If you have one superintendent and no support, you can’t expect perfection without burnout. If the plan requires burnout, the plan is broken.

Capacity doesn’t always mean hiring a full safety manager. It can mean part-time field engineering coverage, a trusted lead who can run huddles, a rotating support plan, or simple decisions that shift time back into the field. It can also mean choosing the right cost-to-work investments, spending money on systems that reduce wasted superintendent time later.The goal is to keep the superintendent in the field, seeing reality, coaching, and stabilizing work. The moment the superintendent becomes trapped behind a desk, the site begins to drift.

Orientation That Works: Recorded, Tested, and Designed to Keep the Superintendent Out of the Classroom

If you want to stop babysitting, fix onboarding. A live orientation delivered by the superintendent every time a new worker shows up is a recipe for chaos on a mid-sized job. Jason’s recommendation is to build a recorded orientation that is consistent, repeatable, and paired with a quick test so expectations are verified, not assumed. This is system-first leadership. A recorded orientation prevents variation. A test verifies understanding. And a simple qualification marker makes it visible who has done what. That’s how you protect safety without consuming your only leader’s day.

Make Training Visible: Stickers, Qualifications, and Fast Verification

Jason talks about making qualifications easy to verify in the field. When training is invisible, the superintendent has to ask everyone, every time, “Do you have OSHA 10? Did you do the orientation? Do you understand the rules?” That turns into babysitting. When training is visible, verification becomes fast. The superintendent can walk a crew, verify quickly, and focus on leading instead of interrogating. This is not about being punitive. This is about removing uncertainty so the system can run.

The Safety Foundation: Essentials That Start a Real Program

A real safety program is not a binder. It’s a living system. Jason references a set of essentials that form the foundation of things like emergency response planning, clear PPE requirements, pre-task planning habits, hazard communication, and a daily leadership cadence. On small projects, the most important thing is not to add complexity. It’s to make the essentials real.If your foundation is weak, the jobsite will rely on luck. If your foundation is strong, the jobsite can absorb variability without falling apart.

The Daily Practices That Create Safety Culture on Small Projects

Safety culture on a mid-sized job is created through repetition. It’s the consistent daily touchpoints that keep expectations fresh and keep hazards from becoming normal. Jason emphasizes daily cadence: worker huddles, foreman huddles, pre-task plans or JHAs when they’re needed, and quick field corrections that happen immediately instead of being saved for a lecture later. When leaders correct small issues early, they prevent big incidents later. When leaders let small issues slide, they teach the workforce that standards are negotiable.

What Breaks Safety on Special Projects

• A single superintendent getting pulled into admin and meetings while the field runs without consistent supervision.
• Constant rotation of short-duration crews who never fully absorb expectations because onboarding is inconsistent.
• Training that exists on paper but isn’t visible or verifiable in the field, creating uncertainty and gaps.
• No daily cadence, so hazards and bad habits become “normal” until something serious happens.
• Tolerance of small violations that quietly teaches everyone the standard is optional.

Zero Tolerance Done Right: Stop Babysitting and Start Stabilizing the Site

“Zero tolerance” has been used so poorly in the industry that people think it means anger and punishment. Jason reframes it as something different: zero tolerance as a stabilizing system. It means the standard is clear, and violations are corrected immediately, respectfully, and consistently.

That consistency is what removes babysitting. When the workforce believes the standard is real, fewer corrections are needed over time. When the workforce believes the standard changes depending on mood, the superintendent will be stuck correcting forever. Zero tolerance done right is not harsh. It’s predictable. It’s respectful. It’s protective.

Contractor Grading and Accountability: Put the Burden Back Where It Belongs

Jason also talks about contractor grading and accountability systems as a way to shift the burden off the superintendent. If trade partners are graded weekly on measurable behaviors cleanliness, safety planning, readiness, reporting then accountability becomes visible and consistent. Players are recognized and protected. Low performance can’t hide.

This prevents the common pattern on mid-sized jobs where the superintendent becomes the enforcement mechanism for everyone else’s basics. That is not leadership. That is unpaid supervision. Accountability systems are not about shaming. They are about clarity. You can’t manage what you can’t measure.

Small-Team Systems That Create Operational Control

• A recorded orientation with a quick test so every worker receives consistent expectations without consuming the superintendent.
• Visible qualification markers so training can be verified quickly in the field.
• A simple daily cadence of huddles and pre-task planning so hazards are caught early and standards stay fresh.
• Immediate, respectful corrections so “small” violations don’t become normalized risk.
• Contractor grading for measurable behaviors so accountability becomes consistent and the superintendent stops babysitting.

Connect to Mission

At Elevate Construction, the goal is stability—field teams that can plan, schedule, and flow without burning people out. LeanTakt supports that stability by reducing variation, creating predictable routines, and making readiness visible. Safety is not separate from production. Safety is part of the production system. A stable jobsite is a safer jobsite.

Jason Schroeder’s approach is system-first: don’t blame workers for what the system allowed. Design a system that makes safe work the easiest work. Protect families by preventing the chaos that leads to late nights, weekend pushes, and “just get it done” decisions. If your project needs superintendent coaching, project support, or leadership development, Elevate Construction can help your field teams stabilize, schedule, and flow.

Conclusion

If you’re leading a special or mid-sized project, don’t accept the lie that you need a massive team to run remarkable safety. You need the right system for your circumstances. You need a foundation that’s real, onboarding that’s consistent, training that’s visible, cadence that’s daily, and accountability that’s measurable. Because the quote that should guide your approach is simple and true: “Everything must be adapted to your circumstances on the project.” Design the system. Protect the people. Stabilize the site. On we go.

Frequently Asked Question:

Why are mid-sized and special projects often harder to run safely than big projects?
They usually have fewer staff and less coverage, but still carry real complexity and visibility. Without intentional systems, the superintendent ends up babysitting and the site drifts.

What’s the fastest way to improve safety on a small team?
Fix onboarding and cadence. A consistent orientation process plus daily huddles and quick corrections reduce variation and prevent hazards from becoming normal.

How can a superintendent avoid being trapped in orientations all day?
Use a recorded orientation with a quick test so expectations are consistent and verifiable without requiring the superintendent to teach the same class repeatedly.

How does contractor grading help safety?
It makes expectations measurable and visible. When trade partners are graded on behaviors like cleanliness, safety planning, and readiness, accountability becomes consistent and the superintendent stops carrying the burden alone.

How does this connect to LeanTakt and Takt?
Stability and flow reduce chaos, congestion, and risk. Daily routines, clear standards, and visible readiness support both safer work and better production.