James O’Brien: “At his plant, he starts everyday with a pre-shift safety meeting to focus employees and to keep personal issues from interfering with their safety focus. For his company, he travels throughout the region conducting inspections, and his insights are highly sought after by other plants. His innovations have been particularly timely in designing and developing three unique types of return roller guards. They are ergonomically designed for easy installation and removal, as well as providing a high level of protection against contact with moving parts.”

Tom Bascue: “He regularly involves plant personnel in safety discussions, including having them accompany inspection teams to learn about safety rules, regulations, and guidance. He utilizes outside resources, such as the California Highway Patrol, to keep workers informed on regulations. And, housekeeping at his plants is second to none, including plant, shop, and parking areas, and individual trucks. His innovations include installation of lightweight grating in the floor of the shop to prevent falls. To prevent back and shoulder injuries, he is transitioning the chutes on his mixer truck fleet from aluminum to lighter weight composites.”

The CalCIMA Safety Award is given in these plant categories: industrial mineral, aggregate (large and small), cement, and ready mixed concrete.

Winners received their awards on Sept. 24 at the CalCIMA Education Conference held at the Catamaran Resort in San Diego.

Honorable Mention winners were Ben Marsalek, plant manager for CalPortland Construction’s Garey Plant in Santa Maria, Calif.; and Vince Fisher, plant supervisor for Lehigh Hanson’s San Andreas Plant in San Andreas, Calif.

CalCIMA is a trade association for the construction and industrial material industries in California. This includes companies producing aggregate (rock, sand, and gravel), ready mixed concrete, cement, and industrial minerals such as limestone, clay, dolomite, and rare earth elements. There are about 100 companies and more than 500 plants represented in CalCIMA’s membership.