Continuous Commitment Produces Notable Safety Achievements
Geotechnology focuses daily on efforts to raise safety awareness and engagement among our staff and to instill a culture of safety within our operations. We continually look for ways to identify, reduce and eliminate jobsite and workplace hazards.
While safety is never a final result, our efforts have produced notable positive changes over the last few years as reflected by the following statistics.
- Our OSHA Recordable Incident Rate (RIR) is down 75% since 2017 and is well below our industry average.
- Preventable motor vehicle incidents (PMVI) are down 58% since 2017 and directly correlate to notably improved driver safety scores in our vehicle monitoring system (Geotab) implemented in 2017.
- Our Exploration crews experienced zero preventable utility strikes in 2020 and were awarded the 2018 and 2019 National Drilling Association Safety Award.
- Geotechnology staff completed more than 4,100 safety observations and 5,000 safety meetings in 2020.
- Our technical staff has shared dozens of “good catches” and “lessons learned” that provide opportunities for educating co-workers.
Geotechnology staff works nearly half a million hours each year performing drilling, material testing and engineering services (and drives nearly 2.5 million miles doing so), and the statistics detailed above are a testament to our employees’ commitment to working injury-free.
We dedicate a great deal of time, resources and effort toward safety. It is one of our core values and you’ll see a commitment to safety at every level of our company and on every jobsite.
Geotechnology’s Vice President for Safety & Risk Management Joe Darmody coordinates training for employees in hazard recognition, develops and implements strategic and OSHA health and safety programs, and provides critical safety resources for our projects. Regional safety coordinators and our Field Safety Specialist Tim Wilson deliver day-to-day support and management of safety issues for technical staff. Whether it’s providing new hire safety orientation, personal protective equipment assessments and management, or jobsite safety visits, these individuals interact daily with field and engineering staff to promote safety throughout our organization.
While our staff complies with a multitude of safety policies, rules and regulations, Geotechnology’s 10 Lifesaving Rules are the foundation of our safe work practices. The first and most important of these 10 rules is: If unsafe conditions exist, all employees have the authority and responsibility to stop our work until conditions are made safe. Our staff is empowered, encouraged and expected to be responsible for their own safety and the safety of their co-workers.
Continuous improvement is the mindset of Geotechnology’s safety program. As such, we are diligent with our efforts to improve our work environment and to exceed project and safety expectations.
Geotechnology is a proud member of the National Safety Council, National Drilling Association, Geoprofessional Business Association and the Amercian Council of Engineeing Companies.
For more information on Geotechnology’s Safety, please contact Joe Darmondy, Vice President for Safety & Risk Management.