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Focus, plan, commit: 2025 safety stand-downs
Safety isn’t just a policy. It is vital to everything our employee-owners do. As the days get longer and hotter, it’s more important than ever. At Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS), we kickstart our summer with safety stand-downs the week of July 7. It’s our time to pause, refocus, and recommit to what matters most: protecting our people.
Summer is a busy season in heavy civil construction. With a lot of work and dangerously high temperatures, there is an increased risk of incidents. During safety stand-down week, crews across ESS temporarily halt operations to address these risks.
New helmets, same mission
This year, our safety stand-downs came with something extra. A major investment in our people’s safety, we rolled out new Type 2 helmets to every employee-owner.
These helmets are a major upgrade to the standard hard hat. They’re more shock absorbent, impact resistant and offer better all-around protection, especially from side impact. The technology within the helmet is built to last, and has been proven to reduce serious head injury by nearly 30%.
This isn’t about keeping up with industry standards. These new helmets represent the importance of safety and putting our people first. That means equipping them with the best materials to protect themselves.
Pressing pause
More than a gentle reminder to keep up with best practices, these stand-downs also serve as a safety culture alignment. Open discussions drive our people to own their safety for their family, their crews and themselves. From the top down, safety stand-downs are a moment to recenter our efforts to be safer, together.
Safety is a planned activity, so the stand-downs offer each crew a chance to connect on jobsite protocols and hazards they may encounter. Beyond typical toolbox talks, they also equip each employee-owner with a fresh perspective on how risks impact everyone.
Commitment and culture
Every year, each employee-owner receives a safety coin. This is a physical token to be brought to work each day; a tactile reminder to stay safe. The stand-downs renewed each individual’s commitment made with their safety coin.
The safety coin features our 5Ps core values: people, purpose, partnership, passion and performance. These values guide everything we do at ESS and highlight why safety matters to our employee-owners. They reflect who we stay safe for, why safety is important, how we support our teammates, and how safety influences the success of our projects.
As employee-owners, safety incidents affect everyone’s bottom line. Though safety stand-down week is over, our commitment to safety never stops.