Geotechnology Focuses on Health and Safety of Its Employees
St. Louis, Mo. (July 5, 2016) - As it strives for a culture of sustainable excellence in each aspect of its operations, Geotechnology, the highly respected engineering and environmental services corporation, makes safety a priority. Safety is one of its core values.
According to Geotechnology’s Corporate Risk Manager Joe Darmody, in order to protect its most important asset, its employees, a company must constantly set safety goals, evaluate practices, educate staff and encourage cooperation. Rather than merely emphasizing compliance, a company should look for ways to prevent injuries and fatalities, and engage employees in making improvements.
Geotechnology believes that safety in the workplace is an integral part of caring for the wellbeing of employees, says Darmody. Adopting a strong safety program is the right thing to do, but it can also boost employee morale, increase productivity, lower costs and increase business.
“First and foremost, we have a responsibility to protect our employees and offer them a safe and healthy work environment,” said Darmody. “Of course, safety is also playing a bigger role on the business side of the company every year. Good safety practices reduce costs incurred from worker injury, and increasingly clients are using safety statistics as pre-qualifiers and differentiators in the proposal process. As part of many prequalification submittals, we are asked to document our safety programs and our path to improvement from a safety perspective; those efforts have only made us stronger as a company in the long-term.”
To be successful, safety should not be compartmentalized, but be an integral part of the company, says Darmody. “Project managers should address safety issues from the beginning as they consider proposals and make budget requests. Every employee should understand proper procedures and be committed to minimizing risk.”
Geotechnology continually seeks to reduce risks for all employees, whether on drilling and construction jobsites, in their testing laboratories or in their offices. The company held a Safety Kick-Off event this year in each of the company’s seven branch offices, and employees signed banners pledging that they were committed to exceeding safety expectations this year and beyond.
Darmody and Field Safety Specialist Tim Wilson regularly tour project sites to observe activities, distribute information and make observations. Every month, Branch Safety Coordinators provide training materials, posters and other resources designed to focus attention on a specific safety topic.The company provides quarterly online safety training, and at the company’s annual GeoSummit, held earlier this year, more than 100 employees discussed the business of safety.
During June, which the National Safety Council designates as National Safety Month, Geotechnology sends letters to the homes of employees, thanking them for their safe practices. Each office conducts a safety meeting as well as other activities throughout the week including trivia games, scavenger hunts, prizes and other activities that educate and reward employees.
Safety efforts extend beyond the workplace, as well. A family magazine, produced by the National Safety Council with personal safety content, is sent quarterly to the home of each employee.
The company’s commitment to the health and safety of its employees is evidenced by outstanding accomplishments. For example, its St. Louis Construction Materials Testing Team recently surpassed 5,555 days without a lost-time accident. Geotechnology’s Experience Modification Rate (EMR) has been below 1.0 for more than 15 years.And its 3-year average OSHA Recordable Incident Rate is approximately half of the industry’s rate.
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Established more than 30 years ago, Geotechnology, Inc. is a professional corporation offering a comprehensive range of consulting services in applied earth and environmental sciences, including geophysics, water resource management, geotechnical and environmental engineering, materials testing and drilling. Geotechnology has provided expertise on thousands of major construction projects in the Midwest and Mid-South regions. Geotechnology is ranked #435 in ENR’s Top 500 Design Firms in 2016.Geotechnology, Inc. is based in St. Louis, Mo., and has 10 offices in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. For more information visit