Question: What do Judge Dredd and Lindamood have in common?
Answer: Judge Dredd is always on the lookout for law violators in his city. At Lindamood, we want all of our team members to be on the lookout for each other’s safety in the field.
All cheesy Stallone movie references aside, we take safety seriously here at Lindamood. Our number-one priority is making sure that every one of our employees goes home unharmed at the end of each day. You can replace an excavator or a track loader or a hauling rig, but you can never replace an individual. That’s why “Live Safety” is at the core of everything we do.
“We want everybody to live their life in a safe environment,” says Jake Lindamood, Vice President and COO. “Safety’s one of the most important things, [and] Live Safety takes it all the way through.”
Michael Bustillos loves all things safety-related. As Lindamood’s Safety Coordinator, his job is to educate every employee about what hazards exist, why they are hazards, and how to recognize and prevent them.
“I get an entire day to teach new hires about safety and what that looks like,” says Michael. “I explain the ‘why’ of safety—like, you know you have to wear a harness, but why?” Michael gets to teach each team member about their skills’ crucial safety aspects, which ultimately takes them to a deeper level of knowledge regarding the skill itself.
At Lindamood, we actively encourage each person to better themselves and do something extra—and we’re always on the lookout for future safety champions. Lindamood leadership is known for nominating multiple employees for safety-specific education courses—regardless of their formal job title—after spotting their potential. We also have what Safety Superintendent Aron Soto calls “Lindamood University,” a training program that incorporates safety requirements, guidelines, and more from OSHA, TEXO, and other entities. CPR training is also mandatory for all Lindamood supervisors.
An injury can not only impact a person’s work life, but it can crush their goals as well. That’s why Lindamood teams and partners begin each day on a project with a job hazard analysis, or JHA. Project leaders encourage everyone to give input, even the quiet ones, and all are encouraged to take the time to stop and ask when they have a doubt or question.
Next each team member is commissioned to look out for a specific safety item each day—there’s The Shoelace Guy, The Hydration Guy, The Errant Nail Guy, and so on. Lindamood has found that personal ownership of a particular safety-related task gives team members the confidence to address their fellow workers when they see a safety violation—and the gumption to seek out their project leader if the violation continues. “We’re here to protect everybody,” says Aron, “not just Team Lindamood. Zero injuries is our goal.”
“Live Safety” is more than just a job-site philosophy; it’s a way of life. We want our people to be safe, and we want their family and friends to be safe too. This is why we regularly go beyond work-related training and provide seasonally relevant toolbox topics, such as how to recognize and avoid heat stress at summer cookouts and how to safely use a ladder while hanging Christmas lights.
“We’re thinking about [our team members] over the holidays as well,” says Michael. “Safety doesn’t stop once [you] leave the work site…. If you’re injured at home, you can’t work, and you can’t provide for your family.”
Our people are what make Lindamood great, and it’s our responsibility to protect those great people. “You learn through being in business for years and years how important safety is and how important your employees are,” says Jake. “When you think about safety, everything else just falls into place. The rest of the job will just come together how it’s supposed to be.”
P.S.: We know you’ve been wanting to say it, so now’s your chance: “I am the law!”
