Leading The Industry

Rooted in strong leadership and training, we strive for a workplace that’s free of injuries and accidents. Vulcan’s comprehensive safety programs lead the industry. We prioritize a safe work culture in recruiting and hiring people who are as committed to safety as we are.

Our safety culture depends on teams and individuals committed to working together to create and maintain a workplace that’s free of hazards for everyone. We prevent accidents through ongoing training, innovation and:

• Actively engaging all employees.
• Thoroughly inspecting our facilities for hazards.
• Providing the proper tools and equipment to do the job safely.
• Reporting “near misses” to help teams learn from incidents that were almost accidents.
• Pairing tenured employees with new hires to share their institutional experience and knowledge of plant sites, equipment and situations.   
• Deploying new technology in our mobile equipment and ready mix truck fleets.

With oversight from our Board of Directors and safety teams at the Corporate, Division and facility levels, our commitment to safety has resulted in a record that outperforms industry averages. In 2017, we achieved the best MSHA/OSHA safety record of our 60-year history, a world-class performance. Our 2018 safety performance was even better, with 0.92 lost-time injuries per 200,000 employee work hours.

Decades ago, Vulcan was the first company in the industry to launch a comprehensive occupational health and industrial hygiene program. The initiative set the industry benchmark by monitoring employee exposure to dust and noise and offering routine medical screenings.

Today, we recognize that total well-being occurs when individuals are given the opportunity to excel in every facet of their lives: physically, emotionally, socially, and financially. We are focused on creating opportunities for individuals to live their best lives and do their best work:

• Developing a cross-discipline Wellness Committee to facilitate a holistic approach to employee health.
• Offering routine on-site medical screenings to monitor employee exposure to dust and noise.
• Identifying potential high-risk activities using video exposure monitoring backpacks that collect real-time data from employees while on the job. Developed in partnership with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the program detects issues before they happen.
• Driving our goal to eliminate noise-induced hearing loss, our hearing protection program includes extensive employee measurement and training. It’s a data-driven approach that’s been honored by NIOSH and the National Hearing Conservation Association.
• Encouraging stretching and other exercises at the beginning of shifts to help warm-up the body and prevent injuries.
• Providing holistic Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefits that provide coaching, work-life and behavioral support.

Not only do we have healthy employees and exposure levels well below state and federal safety limits and industry averages, but we’re building a positive culture that promotes and encourages a healthy workplace for all of our people.