Paul Bass Photo
Nobody tripped over the edge of a rising parking garage and broke his leg or worse Tuesday morning. Jared Hunter was making sure of that.
Hard-hatted Hunter was on the construction site of the George-and-Orchard Street portion of the $838 million Yale New Haven neurosciences center rising in West River. While workers from Turner Construction worked on the first tiers of the garage, Hunter monitored their safety.
That’s his job as Turner’s project safety superintendent, a job he said he enjoys.
The work day began at 7:30, when Hunter met with the crew to review safety documents. “They let us know what activities they’re going to do. They let us know what hazards are involved. They let us know what they’re going to do to prevent anything from happening to them,” Turner said during a conversation on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program.
On Tuesday that included erecting cement walls around tiers of the rising garage, he said.
“First they put up guard rails. I’m making sure they put up the guard rails so nobody falls to their deaths or gets seriously hurt.
“Once they finish with this level and nobody’s in danger of falling, they’ll put the guard rails up again” for the next tier.
Hunter has had the job with Turner for two years. He was previously working in security at Conde Nast in New York, where he met people who suggested he pursue certification as a fire safety inspector. He did, then hooked up with Turner and advanced to a work-site superintendent position. Last year he was assigned to a site where White Plains (N.Y.) Hospital was building a new campus; “I was a superintendent there doing punch-list items.” Turner has had him doing the safety superintendent work at Yale New Haven since June. He is responsible for checking in on a half dozen sites, mostly the West River project, but also on York Street.
“Nobody likes the safety guy,” he said. The workers “do appreciate” what he does, but will also sometimes say, “I’ve been doing this for 30 years; I know what I’m doing.”
“All it takes is for that one minute for something to happen,” Hunter said. “We have a lot of [potential] fall hazards. Sometimes they get up there, they forget to tie off. They’re about to fall. I say, ‘Hey you’ve got to tie off!’ They have a harness on and they have a lanyard that’s connected to the steel erection. They tie the clip on their arm,” and have protection in case they slip.
“I’m making sure that safety is done right so everybody comes home at the end of the day to their family,” Hunter said.
Workers on break Tuesday; temporary guard rails above at right.
When work ends at 3:30, Hunter, who’s 45, planned to go home to his family in Hamden, where he and his wife are raising four kids aged 12 – 18. If all is OK, he may head to Planet Fitness to work out.
He shifts into Family Safety Superintendent mode at home. He reminds his kids: “Don’t talk to strangers, don’t get in a strange car. If somebody bothers you, make sure you tell me about it.”
Hunter said he has seen no slips, no falls, no major injuries during his months stationed at Yale New Haven. Two hours into the job Tuesday morning, that was holding true: “So far, so good. I haven’t seen any safety issues. Let’s see what happens the rest of the day.”
Click on the video to watch the conversation with Jared Hunter on the “Word on the Street” segment of WNHH FM’s “LoveBabz LoveTalk” program. It begins at the 24-minute mark in the video.
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Notwithstanding Mr. Hunter's statement, I suspect the insurers of the construction companies like the safety guy. More importantly, the families of the workers have reason to appreciate his efforts.