The EHS Daily Advisor Safety Standout Awards team is proud to announce our fourth round of winners! The awards have a simple yet important mission: To recognize companies and safety professionals who excel in making their workplaces safe. Read on to meet our latest award winners and runners-up, who will be recognized at the upcoming Safety Culture 2019 event.
These awards are sponsored by SafeStart, the most successful safety training process in the world for developing personal, 24/7 safety skills, proven to reduce injuries by 50% on average. SafeStart has trained over 3 million people at more than 3,000 companies and 10,000 sites in over 60 countries and is available in 32 languages.
Join us in celebrating these safety-focused organizations when they accept their awards at a ceremony during Safety Culture 2019, taking place September 18–20 in Denver, Colorado!
Best Safety Committee
Elzinga & Volkers is a locally owned and operated Michigan corporation with its headquarters located in Holland. Established in 1945, the organization is a general contractor and construction manager that specializes in the construction of senior living, industrial, healthcare, nonprofit, and faith-based facilities. Offering a wide variety of construction services, Elzinga & Volkers has eight self-performed trade divisions—carpentry, firestopping, concrete, sitework, steel, interiors, painting, and demolition.
The Editorial Board saw a superlative safety committee at this organization. The committee, currently comprised of 14 members representing every level of the company, is made up of volunteers who have a passion for safety and a desire to inspire others to share that passion. The committee’s success in promoting safe behaviors is reflected in Elzinga & Volkers recently-achieved milestone of 12 years without a lost time incident.
From recording very thorough committee meeting minutes to creating engaging safety communications, Elzinga & Volkers’ safety committee exemplifies a team commitment to constant awareness of safety in the workplace. The organization outlined the goals of their committee in their application:
The primary duties of the safety committee are to 1) Set corporate policy and safety standards over and above what is required by OSHA; 2) Help achieve annual safety goals and review and improve them; 3) Work with fellow team members to identify good catches (near misses) and determine the best way to communicate them to the group at large to ensure actions are not repeated; and 4) Review all inspection reports.
The Safety Committee Commitment Statement reads, “We commit to Lead from the Heart to achieve a World Class Safety Culture that will send every employee home safely—every day.” It is the job of the committee to live it, breath it, encourage it, and enforce it.
Accepting the award for Elzinga & Volkers is Scott Wondergem.
