THERE’S A SAYING in all things organizational that “Safety doesn’t happen by accident.” Someone by the name of “Author Unknown” coined the phrase at some point in relatively recent world history, but no one knows when or where it happened. We know this, though: “Author” was right. We also know this: A long-sustained excellent safety record in industry definitely doesn’t happen by accident.

A safety record like the kind we have here at Tucker Paving, Inc. — well more than a million man hours without a loss-time injury — takes a lot of effort, from the top leader right on down to the just-hired and properly oriented new field employee. It takes total commitment to the cause, quality and consistent training, adherence to all safety rules and regulations at all times, and care and concern for the other guys and gals on the team — an attitude that can be summed up like this: “I’ll watch your back. You watch mine.”

A safety record likes ours tends to get noticed — by the media, by our industry peers, by leaders in other kinds of business, by the clients we serve now, and by potential clients. A safety record likes our also tends to bring awards — like the kind just recently presented to our leadership.

From Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC), Tucker Paving received an ABC STEP Award at the Platinum Level. STEP is short for Safety Training Evaluation Process. The award was presented to Tucker Paving “in recognition of the company’s Platinum Level of achievement and its ongoing efforts in the development of a quality safety program for 2018.”

Tucker Paving is a member of ABC’s Central Florida Chapter, but the 2018 STEP Award came from the organization’s national office, giving the recognition some additional weight and prestige.

A company goal is to repeat and earn another Platinum STEP Award for 2019, but that takes secondary importance to the goal of keeping all of our employees safe on the job for the balance of this year and well into next year. It’s a goal — an imperative, really — that each of us here takes very seriously.