Building Safety Culture from the Bottom Up

Kevin Hogan is the Corporate Safety Director at Knutson Construction — and his industry roots go much deeper. Like many construction professionals, he began his career in the field, gaining hands-on knowledge with Xanadu Builders, a national commercial and residential construction company.

That early experience became a valuable foundation, sparking a career in safety that has been both innovative and insight-driven.

Choosing Safety First

For many, a career in construction safety isn't the initial plan. As a student pursuing a degree in Engineering Technology, Hogan’s goal was to become a superintendent or project manager. A safety engineering role with Mortensen Construction, however, shifted his focus.

“As a safety engineer traveling for renewable energy, I was in the wind energy group, and I grew with that group for the next nine and a half, 10 years," Kevin says. "Traveling all over the U.S., I really started to gain a big passion for safety.”

During his time at Mortensen, that passion drove his career from a safety engineer to Safety Director for the company's wind energy group. This experience helped him develop an innovative, people-focused, bottom-up approach to safety.

Making the Switch to Commercial Construction

After managing safety for projects involving massive wind turbine blades and large crawler cranes, a switch to commercial construction might seem like a significant change. For Hogan, the decision to join Knutson was an opportunity to reduce travel and focus on his family.

Now 10 months into his role, Kevin has found that many of the lessons learned in the wind energy sector translate well to Knutson's portfolio of hospitals, clinics, and K-12 builds.

“It’s been a really fun experience. Knutson Construction has far exceeded my expectations for a company that truly values their people; they make you a part of their family and have an amazing culture.”

Beyond the Baseline

Kevin's approach to safety moves beyond reactive compliance toward a proactive model.

“If we look back on the history of safety, we have commonly focused on the baseline standard. Let’s get our safety policy, let’s get all our manuals out there. Let’s enforce this through disciplinary action. And it all turns into a knee-jerk reaction," Kevin explains.

"But we continue to see serious injuries and fatalities flatline or even increase... that’s where I think that true root causes are going to lead us to a turning point, where we take a more proactive approach.”

One way Kevin encourages proactive safety is by introducing competition between projects or business units. He assigns Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to safety factors like “great catches” and posts results on a live dashboard.

“They can see that they’re at 60%, for example, compared to Minneapolis, which is at 100%. So that forces that culture of open communication and the sharing of safety hazards, because as humans, we just like to compete.”

Instead of focusing only on lagging indicators like recordable incident rates, this system gives every team member an incentive to actively improve safety performance — a true measure of a project's safety capacity. Combined with safety inspections and a “great catch” recognition program, Kevin is creating a culture where safety is embraced rather than simply endured.

The Bottom-Up Method

Hogan’s field experience drives his bottom-up approach to safety management. He understands the perspective of field employees who often view extensive safety paperwork as a hindrance.

“If I were to go out into the field today, as the safety director, and try to perform everything that our industry pushes to the field, it’s nearly impossible.” 

He points to the overlap in standard paperwork, such as Field Level Risk Assessments (FLRAs), and various permits that crews must complete before starting work. After hearing complaints, Kevin went to a site to complete the forms himself and found the process inefficient.

In response, Knutson streamlined its processes to reduce overlap, giving field crews a faster and easier way to comply with safety requirements. “Everything they’ve been telling us is accurate.” 

This demonstrates a valuable lesson: for safety programs to be effective, they must be practical for the people implementing them. Spending time on site to understand their challenges is key to developing processes that are both compliant and efficient.

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A People-First Approach to Safety

When safety policies are developed without input from those who use them daily, workers may find workarounds that compromise the system's value.

Hogan's example of going to the field to experience the process firsthand highlights the importance of bridging the gap between policy and practice. By involving field crews, safety leaders can adjust processes to fit the practical realities of the jobsite. This investment of time and energy can lead to greater adoption and a more robust safety culture.

At its core, safety is about people. Effective safety programs create systems that allow teams to perform their work safely without compromising productivity and quality goals.

Kevin Hogan has translated his hands-on field experience into processes that rely heavily on human input and engagement. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement and open communication, companies can build safety programs that work for everyone involved. When safety is approached as a company-wide effort, as Hogan's competitive model demonstrates, it becomes an integral part of the project's success.

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