Earlier this year, we unveiled our corporate mission, vision, and values that guide our company’s actions. As we seek to be the leading, most reliable, and most responsible cement supplier in the regions where we operate, we understand the critical nature of health and safety.

As part of a monthly series of articles unpacking our company’s vision for 2023, we will start by explaining our safety core values. Safety is the first element of our S-E-S-C-O initiative, serving as a reminder of our critical goal to achieve a zero-incident work environment:

• Safety.
• Employees.
• Sustainability.
• Customers.
• Optimization.

We believe that safety is a commitment for every team member. Only when everyone in our company commits to safe actions can we achieve a truly safe environment for all users of our facilities. To help in this area, we provide our employees with the resources they need to carry out their safety responsibility.

Specifically, we are developing and maintaining OSHA compliance programs that include these critical elements:

• Written SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)
• JSAs (Job Safety Analysis)
• Safety policies/procedures
• PPE checks
• Inspection reports

Our commitment to safety extends beyond front-line workers handling cement. For office workers who aren’t regularly exposed to industrial hazards, we are promoting mental wellness, ergonomics, and physical activity to support the well-being of the entire company.

OSHA inspections and resulting fines can become a huge liability for companies that lack a strong safety culture. But safety goes beyond avoiding penalties. We believe accidents and injuries are 100% preventable, and everyone deserves to return home the same way they came to work – in good health.

We believe that strong documentation and a collective, responsible attitude can help mitigate risks. We want to reach the point where near misses and unsafe behaviors/hazards can be course-corrected before they escalate into lost time due to serious injuries or fatalities.

When workers adhere to safety as part of the natural course of their activities, then compliance with regulations becomes a natural outflow of what they are already doing. That’s why it’s important to our company to build a strong safety culture that is so ingrained in our DNA that it becomes second nature

The safety effort then advances beyond trying to comply with external regulations to actually making a positive internal impact on each worker’s attitudes, behavior, and thinking while at the job site.

We have already begun implementing and optimizing various safety programs as part of our safety training exercises for employees:

• Emergency response action plan
• Lock out/tag out procedure
• Respiratory protection program
• Fleet safety program aligned with workers' compensation recommendations
• Working at heights

These programs are helping us on the journey to zero incidents. To help us achieve the goal, we are going beyond talking about safety to tracking the results. This way, employees can see their safety performance and understand how to close gaps.

To support this effort, we established a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to help us keep track of performance over time:

• Near Misses
• Reported Incidents (and severity)
• Days without LTIR (Lost Time Incident Rate)
• TRIR (Total recordable incident rate)

For example, we are reporting near misses and generating timely reports of any incidents right when they occur. If there’s an incident, it is reported, evaluated, and then the employee will be provided with additional training or coaching to support continuous improvement.

Also, any incidents are evaluated immediately after being reported. We do not want to waste time implementing corrections because of how important safety is to our company.

We take safety seriously. It’s embedded in what we do, all the way to supporting visitors. When you arrive on-site at one of our terminals, we will provide you with a visitor’s orientation, accompanying visitor’s handbook, and PPE for all guests at the facility.

By actively promoting safety, our company is protecting the interests of our people, customers, and communities. To learn more about our safety core values, we invite you to get in touch with us to request additional information .

We are making a difference, and we invite you to partner with us for your cement needs.