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Could you share about your career at ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ? 

I have been in construction about 18 years, and my last seven years have been with ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ. I started as a senior preconstruction manager in Colorado and continued in preconstruction prior to accepting the Division Manager position here in Dallas in 2021.

As a division manager, how do you view your role in ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ’s safety culture? 

I see my role in safety as twofold: providing resources and being deliberate. 

I need to ensure that my teams have all the necessary resources within the division to keep safety as their number one priority. This includes building a robust team of safety professionals, hiring field superintendents who align with our safety culture, and providing our self-perform teams with the safety support they need every single day. Training our craft and being proactive is an intentional focus of our teams.

I also work to stay as intentional as possible with respect to safety and encourage our teams to do the same. When we meet for our safety-specific job walks or have our safety department meetings, I work with the team to ensure we discuss safety protocols in detail and not focus on execution. 

What preventative practices have you put in place in Dallas? 

In Dallas, we hold monthly safety walks that include the entire leadership team, and we only focus on safety during that time – not schedule, budget, or other topics. It is important to walk the jobs, not be distracted with project execution, and to have an eye towards safety risks.  We talk about safety trends from the prior month – both locally and throughout the division and region – looking at specific on-site risks. We discuss strategies we’ll need to implement as we go to reduce those risks and keep everyone safe.

The operations manager and director also have weekly leadership meetings with our division safety manager where they look at job site trends, analyzing any incidents we’ve had and putting additional preventative measures in place. 

What do you believe sets ³Ô¹ÏȺÖÚ’s safety culture apart in the construction industry? 

Given we’re 100% employee owned, we’re all invested in each other’s success and performance. We take pride in making sure we all go home to our families at the end of the day. We’re all looking out for each other because we really care for one another. I really see this show up in my self-perform teams, because it’s crucial that they watch out not only for themselves, but one another.

You’re in the process of building out your safety training program in Dallas. What elements are you keeping top of mind as you build this program? 

Going back to being intentional, training is something we’re very intentional about. Maintaining focus and clarity with our teams is crucial, especially since we are self-performing general contractors, which means our safety culture needs to reflect that our employees are in the field doing the work – versus managing subcontractors. Our training emphasizes quality, execution, and safety standard operating procedures (SOPs), including equipment and safety processes that our craft teams need to know. 

We’re also intentionally growing the safety team in our division. Our Division Safety Manager, Ryan Barnes, is the longest-tenured person in the Dallas division, and he’s been instrumental in helping build our safety program and culture here. His expertise coming from the Craft side of the field has helped us immensely in building our teams and encouraging them to always prioritize safety. 

Lastly, recognizing a team member for going above and beyond is crucial. Showing up on the job site to shake their hand and thank them ensures they understand that their actions, performance, and focus on safety are noticed, appreciated, and valued. Being present and taking time to acknowledge their efforts makes a significant impact. That on-site presence from all our leaders goes a long way in the field.