STOBG family builders are leveraging strategic planning and strong safety culture on mission critical sites.
Mission critical projects are among the largest and most technically demanding in construction, especially on hyperscale data center campuses.
Their scope and complexity can create unique safety concerns. The STO Building Group family is developing innovative approaches to safety, including planning, collaboration, and culture, to help mission critical workers return home safely each day.
Areas that may already be concerns on different types of projects require additional planning and oversight on hyperscale data center projects,” SAYS HERB SANTOS, REGIONAL ESH MANAGER FOR LAYTON CONSTRUCTION. “Coordinating everything takes more planning and strategy, both internally and externally.”
Santos oversees safety on five Layton projects in the South, Midwest, and Western regions. His teams are specialized to address the complex logistics of moving people, equipment, and materials throughout large campuses. They also coordinate emergency response plans and oversee communication strategy.
“Relying on one generalized safety team to handle all of that would be too much,” he says.
Electrification represents a particularly important safety focus because of the scale and complexity of the infrastructure involved.
“Construction workers are used to dealing with electrical hazards, but not at this magnitude or complexity,” Santos explains.
For this reason, Layton teams rely on careful strategy, employee education, and multiple redundancies, such as lockout/tagout policies that ensure electrical systems are de-energized during work.
COLLABORATION AND CULTURE
Collaboration is another crucial element of safety on mission critical projects. According to Janet Fitzpatrick, Environmental H&S Officer for Structure Tone Dublin, her team has found success by bringing stakeholders together to strategize and coordinate.
“So many systems must work in line with each other at the same time,” she says. “We are involved from a safety perspective, but we also include engineers, consultants, clients, and subcontractors. We work backward from point C to point A, identifying the necessary steps to get there in the end.”
Fitzpatrick also recognizes the role of culture in safety on mission critical projects. “You can have process and systems in place, but if someone’s having a bad day, accidents can happen,” she says.
Santos shares this assessment. The Layton team supports a broader safety culture in several ways, from developing signage to offering mental health spaces and maternity rooms. They also invest in recognition and incentive programs to encourage teams to attend classes and build awareness.
Beyond the sheer size of projects, mission critical work can present psychological challenges for workers who relocate or travel long distances
to project sites. “People can get lonely away from their families
and friends at home,” Fitzpatrick explains.
Her Amsterdam team promotes healthy, active lifestyles for travelers, including organizing soccer teams, conducting on-site health checks, and bringing ice cream trucks to the site as part of heat illness awareness.
In the end, Santos says mission critical safety goes beyond policy, requiring a “humanistic” approach.
“If you don’t learn the people business, then you’re not going to be successful,” he says. “We’re dealing with human behavior. The title is safety, but we’re learning to be better people overall on these projects.”