The California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) announced its 2021 Excellence in Safety Awards winners. These awards acknowledge the exceptional work and contributions to safety in regard to leadership, innovation, commitment, and impact beyond the plant.
“Safety has to be JOB #1 in our industry. We’re proud to prioritize the safety of our workers, from training and tools, to our operational plans focused to ensure all workers are in a safe environment,” said Robert Dugan, president and CEO of CalCIMA. “We continuously work to improve our methods of communication between workers, inspections around plants and quarries, and review general preventative measures. Likewise, we are proud to honor these teams as shining examples of diligence to embrace the obligation to send every employee home to their families at the end of their shift each day.”
The Excellence in Safety Awards honor different categories of mines and plants, such as aggregate, asphalt and concrete. The winners are:
- Large Aggregate Mine – United Rock’s Irwindale Quarry (Irwindale).
- Small Aggregate Mine – Granite Construction’s Solari Sand & Gravel (Arvin).
- Asphalt Plant – Granite Construction’s Desert Cities Asphalt Plant (Indio).
- Asphalt Plant – Granite Rock Co.’s Peninsula Road Materials (Redwood City).
- Concrete Plant – Granite Rock Co.’s Santa Cruz Concrete (Santa Cruz).
- Special Recognition Award – Martin Marietta’s Tehachapi Cement Plant (Tehachapi).
There are also individual winners who have demonstrated that they prioritize and practice safety every day. The winners are:
- Outstanding Safety Leadership Award – Stephanie Lovall, A.R. Wilson Quarry business manager (Aromas).
- Safety Professional Award – Adam Winter, ES&H manager, Gillibrand Industrial Sands Inc. (Simi Valley).
- Safety Professional Award – Daisy Kwan, safety engineer, Granite Rock Co. (Watsonville).
The Safety Awards were presented by Meghan Neal, director of environmental, health and safety at PW Gillibrand. Safety Awards were chosen based on an essay describing what’s occurring at the plant, and a panel of judges from CalCIMA’s Safety and Health Committee review and choose the winners.
“Safety awards are important to those who embrace their positive safety cultures. They not only value their people, but recognize that paying attention to safety is an important key to business systems,” said safety awards judge Terry Tyson of Insight Services and Presentations. “It results in higher safety, less waste, and high employee morale. People want to work for companies that are safe to work at, and that will attract higher quality candidates. We need to care about our people because we don’t hire robots.”