Keeping your cool during a time of crisis is more a matter of preparation than personality. The minutes after a serious construction accident, when the extent of an injury or a human life is at stake, is not a time for improvisation. Companies need to have a prearranged plan of action to deal with the type of incidents likely to occur on their projects, need to have communicated that plan to employees as part of their training and need to have sufficient equipment on service trucks or other vehicles to help buy time.

This is not a substitute for safety training, but part of it. Prevention always is the best route. An accident that never occurs does not require a rescue. But construction work is inherently dangerous and jobsites often involve many firms and trades working simultaneously. An employer may have no control over the events that lead up to an accident, but preparedness can give it some control after one happens.

Kokosing Construction is one contractor that tries to be prepared for anything. Before it starts a project, company policy requires its staff to locate local rescue and medical services and call them or set up a meeting. They also must calculate the time it will take to transport injured personnel to hospitals. It doesn’t end there. All on-site employees maintain a "hard-hat emergency card" listing contact and medical data in a plastic adhesive sleeve inside their hard hats, says Vice President of Administration Marsha Rinehart.

Not every employer will be that diligent about emergency preparedness, but there are plenty of reasons to take it seriously. A primary concern is taking the guesswork out of when employees should expose themselves to danger while trying to help an injured co-worker. In many instances, would-be rescuers end up killing themselves or putting themselves in a position where they need to be rescued. Imprudent rescue attempts, particularly if they involve heavy equipment, can also hurt workers rather than help them.

There’s a lot to think about when planning for accidents and equipping work teams, and it is clear that it is an employer’s responsibility. Federal safety regulations require that employers provide for prompt rescue, but they do not define it. There is such a wide range of variables and circumstances between worksites that it is difficult to draft rules that are fair, accurate or even helpful. But it is worth a try. One area where we would like to see better guidance is on how soon a worker suspended in a harness in a fall-arrest system must be relieved before harness-induced pathology sets in.

Preparedness does not necessarily cost a lot. Just like safety in general, the investment in time, effort and money is the best investment you can make.