“SAFETY FIRST” IS “SAFETY ALWAYS.”
-CHARLES M. HAYES
After two years, eight months and twenty-seven days Penhall’s Seattle branch has demonstrated what it means to be an industry leader. After recently being awarded 1,000 days OSHA Recordable Incident free work place, the branch already has its eyes set on the next milestone.
December 29th, 1970 President Richard Nixon signed into law the Occupational and Health Act of 1970 which was the precedent for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Also known as, OSHA, this administration set forth the standards for employers and employees to maintain a safe and healthful work environment.
At Penhall, we pride ourselves on putting safety at the forefront of all our projects. We have cultivated a culture of putting our team and customers’ safety first. By adhering to OSHA’s standards, and those of our own, our Seattle branch has triumphantly made it as a 1,000 days OSHA Recordable Incident free work place. An OSHA Recordable Incident is an incident in which an injury, illness or fatality that was directly caused by a work-related event occurs. What this means is that for almost three years, our Seattle branch maintained and executed industry leading safety standards every day, for every project, for every person. Accomplishments such as these cannot be reached without the dedication, implementation and hard work from the whole team; our drivers, field operators, technicians, administrators and managers.
Our Seattle branch is full service, providing everything from concrete cutting, scanning, utility locating, pavement reinforcement, highway and building trade services, and much more. We are led by our seasoned Branch Manager, Jim Wiltshire, who has been an integral part of the company’s success for over 25 years. Some highlights from Penhall’s Seattle branch include a management team with 100 combined years of experience, and recycling 100% of their spent water from sawing projects.
“SAFETY IS NOT AN ACCIDENT.” – ANONYMOUS
We cut concrete, not corners. Our employees make safety a habit. Maintaining one of the best safety records in the industry for over 60 years is no simple task. Penhall works vigorously day in and day out to educate, plan and implement the newest safety standards as the industry modernizes. Our annual safety conferences invites team members nationwide to come and share their values, ideas and accomplishments on safety. Led by Penhall’s President and CEO, Greg Rice, we encourage an open dialogue with our team members to improve upon our procedures. We also take this time to reward those branches who have demonstrated an incident free work environment. As well as our annual conferences, Penhall holds monthly safety meetings at both the branch level and the senior executive level. These meeting are used to communicate updates and notices company wide. Best practices, new technology, new strategies, safety concerns and much more are discussed.
In addition to safety meetings, Penhall has also implemented a mentorship program to further emphasize safety education. Penhall’s mentor program provides specially-trained, knowledgeable mentors to facilitate and guide new trainees. Mentors help to instill a strong foundation of experience and understanding in new hires to ensure mastery of required skills and safety. Penhall’s mentorship program’s goal is to educate trainees how to discover, learn, problem-solve, and develop their own natural strengths and potential while working safe. As we continue to grow and modernize Penhall, we do so knowing that we have gotten this far by the persistent insistence on what matters most, our team and customers’ safety.
Some words from Penhall’s President and CEO, Greg Rice, “This was not a milestone though a goal something that each one our Seattle employees achieved over those 1,000 days. Our next goal is to go 2,000 days, then so on and so on. These goals cannot be accomplished without working one job, one day, one week, one month, one-year incident free. It must start from your very next job. It can be done.”
