“Safety keeps us all in business, keeps us competitive and keeps our whole workforce intact,” says John Zelasco, safety director for FCL Builders in Itasca, Illinois. “When everyone gets on and off the job and goes home safe at night, that’s a great day.”

We couldn’t agree more. Prairie has just completed its 15th straight month with no lost time incidents — more than 1.5 million man-hours of safe operation covering 1,000 employees in 3 states. In partnership with FCL and all our customers across the region, we’re aiming for zero incidents throughout 2013.

From our yards to your job sites: a 360-degree pledge​

As construction schedules get tighter and work teams grow leaner, safety efforts must intensify to keep pace, says Prairie President Richard Olsen.

“We follow a 360-degree approach that focuses on keeping employees, customers, vendors and the public safe,” he explains. “More and more, that approach begins with our construction partners, who bring us their own unique safety requirements.”

FCL is a prime example. The company requires subcontractors and suppliers to attend jobsite-specific orientations before each project begins, Zelasco says.

“We view our subs as experts in what they do,” he says. “On jobs like the million-square-foot distribution centers we’ve built in the last few years, we have 50 to 100 loads of concrete coming on site throughout the day. We see Prairie’s drivers as a crucial piece of our jobsite safety and we look to complement their own safety program.”

Mentors, courses keep our drivers sharp

Our 600-plus drivers who deliver to job sites throughout Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin are among the best in the business, with skills that send a Prairie representative to NRMCA’s national truck rodeo competition almost every year. Constant refreshing of drivers’ skills is the key to top performance.

“We identify senior drivers every season to act as mentors, riding along with other drivers in all regions to observe and share tips for improvement,” says Dave Mashek, Prairie’s human resources chief. This year, every driver will also complete a 4-hour defensive driving class created by the National Safety Council, he reports.

Everyone’s at the table

At Prairie’s annual joint committee on health and safety meeting held earlier this year, 50 team members from every area of the company met to outline plans for an incident-free 2013.

“Having people from operations, customer service and human resources in the same room with drivers, cartage and plant operators, high-lift operators and mechanics gave us the full view,” Mashek says. “We discussed events and patterns we’d seen over the past year and defined ways to prevent injuries, especially during the peak season ahead.”

Employee feedback on suggested safety measures is critical, Mashek points out, “because they’re the experts. We rely on them to help us fine-tune safety procedures, report hazards and come up with ideas to make every work day safer.”

The safety “rock stars” of Prairie: Our Aggregates Team

More than 80 Prairie team members run our 11 quarries and aggregate yards in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. With an amazing 5 ½ years with zero lost-time incidents, this crew has a safety record nearly 3 times better than the industry average, reports Annick Maenhout, health, safety and environmental manager for our aggregate operations. “Every single employee has contributed to this result by being aware of hazards, taking part in safety self-audits, and paying attention to doing the right things right,” Maenhout says. “We’re coming close to a million man-hours with no lost time accidents.”