Maintaining a strong safety culture.
Why do we take safety so seriously? The answer is we care about our employees and the communities we are privileged to work in. We also care about maintaining a profitable and productive company and safety is the foundation. The benefits of workplace safety are overwhelming, a strong safety culture transforms a company and its employees into a team with a common goal. “There is nothing we value higher than our people all returning home from work safely everyday” says Rob Rice, Gravity President and CEO.
The company today known as Gravity started as two companies merged together, two companies with two safety programs. Although each program was essentially sound, it became apparent that as a merged unit there was room for improvement. As one company, Gravity, we wanted our employees to feel safe and protected, but also give our customers and communities we work in the confidence of knowing safety was at the forefront of our operations.
The Gravity safety program has many moving parts. Along with safety officers that oversee the entire program, we have positioned safety champions in each area of operation to specifically address the needs of employees, customers and vendors that are conducting operations in those geographic locations. Safety champions also ensure we are meeting the expectations of the community. Sam Bedell, Gravity HSE Director, says “Of paramount concern in all our operations are safety and environmental protection. Daily we borrow our employees from their families; it is our job to send them home tired and dirty. The HSE professionals at Gravity understand that it is not a soft scale obligation. Employees have access to HSE professionals that help navigate the laws, policies, and procedures. Without access to Gravity's safety professionals, there would be less accountability. This alliance gives our employees the confidence to challenge improper behavior in the field. Employees have organic safety conversations daily, and those conversations help Gravity's risk profile trend towards target zero.”
We have implemented several programs that are important to measure and hold employees accountable for keeping safety top-of-mind. All Gravity employees are required to complete monthly on-line safety training and field personnel are required to attend monthly safety meetings. We have created written Standard Operating Procedures for each activity we engage in. We have implemented a Safety Observation Program which reinforces strong safety habits by observing employees during job duties and correcting any deficient behavior. Our Job Safety Analysis Program, which requires all employees to complete a job safety analysis form before each task or delivery and at the end of every day. Our Stop Work Program empowers any employee to stop work if they feel there is danger to themselves or others.
We are proud of the Gravity safety program and the subsequent results we see daily from our efforts. We have developed a safety program that is proactive rather than reactive, taking the steps to strategize potential hazards, empower our employees to take charge of situations they feel are unsafe, and put in place safety precautions to ensure our employees, customers and vendors are protected. At Gravity we will continue to focus on our safety program and develop strategies to ensure we are operating in the safest manner possible.
Power Segment - 2 Years No Recordables
Our Power Generation Segment has been working diligently to encourage and maintain a safe working environment. As of February 2021, the Power Segment has achieved two years without a recordable incident. This milestone includes 175 employees and spans 10 branches in 8 states. Chad Wolf, Vice President of Power Generation & Rental Solutions says, "Given the industries we serve and the geographic reach within our organization, this accomplishment is beyond impressive. The entire team is to be credited with achieving Target Zero for 2 years and counting, from management to the field personnel to our EHS team, everyone is holding each other accountable and creating a culture to make this possible."
