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At the time, Choate relied on a method that’ s as old-fashioned as it is unreliable yet still very much in use in the industry: air horns.
“ It’ s standard practice to use air horns to notify employees,” Pabon explains.“ But you can blow as many air horns as you want: when you’ re on the fifth story of a residential highrise, opposite the job trailer, and sheetrock and windows are going up, it’ s going to be pretty hard to hear that air horn.”
Even if workers did hear the sound, they had no way of knowing what it meant.“ It could be an active shooter. It could be a tornado coming,” he says.“ I didn’ t feel comfortable that we had a good plan in place.”
Finding a better way
Pabon raised the issue during a safety call several years ago.“ I had brought this up on a call years ago, and someone referred me to Safety Systems Management( SSM) as a viable option,” he recalls.“ I did some homework, invited them in, and that’ s how we started working together.”
About five and a half years ago, SSM visited one of Choate’ s large multifamily residential projects in Savannah to assess the site’ s layout, power sources, and alert needs. The company recommended a wireless emergency alert system consisting of multiple call stations and repeaters. Choate rented 11 stations for the sixstory build, enough to provide full coverage across the project’ s various floors and wings. Since then, Choate has rented systems directly from SSM on a per-project basis.“ We talked about purchasing them a while back,” Pabon says,“ but we no longer purchase, store, or house any physical equipment. We outsource it all.”
Choate uses the systems primarily on wood-frame construction projects, where fire risk is greatest.“ The spread of fire is very rapid, and you’ re always around consumables,” he notes.“ If a fire were to start, it would spread quickly.”
The number of stations varies from project to project.“ One project could employ 11 stations, while another could have just four or five. It depends on how many floors you have and how the building is laid out,” Pabon says.“ You might have a C-shaped building or a courtyard where you need two on a floor. Or you might have two separate residential buildings under construction at the same time.”
Choate first implemented the system in April 2020, and the results were immediate.“ It was a really solid combination of high-level technology with a low level of installation or maintenance to get it going,” Pabon says.“ Actually, it’ s little to none. Outside of the initial orientation, there’ s no continual maintenance. If there is something wrong, we just pick up the phone, and it gets fixed.”
Practical, mobile, and reliable
The system’ s simplicity and mobility have been two of the most attractive features. Pabon says the setup requires no special wiring, no permanent fixtures, and very little training.“ One thing I really like is its mobility; it weighs just 42 pounds. It’ s not fixed; it’ s a standalone item. We can have it moved from one location to another in no time.”
While the SSM systems have not yet been pressed into service for an actual life-threatening event, it has become an everyday part of the company’ s safety culture.“ Thankfully, there have been no specific emergency events to test the system,” Pabon says.“ However, we use them quite often for proactive safety measures, like anytime lightning strikes are within ten miles, or whenever we clear the building at the end of the day. We also use it for all our safety stand downs, evacuation drills, and general announcements. This means the same system that could one day save lives also enhances daily communication.”
The system’ s central command station allows site leaders to broadcast recorded or
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