Central’s Texas District Marks Three Years without a Lost Time Incident

On May 19, 2017, an employee suffered a lost time injury at a Flatiron project, located in the Northern Region of Texas. This injury occurred when a reinforced concrete pipe that was just set into a trench, rolled, as the rigging was being removed, hyperextending the knee of the employee.

The accident was especially distressing for Texas Region Safety Manager James Walcik. “It was easily preventable, which did make it a frustrating incident,” Walcik explains. “If the employee would have just been given a few seconds to be able to move away from the pipe, the lost time injury wouldn’t have happened.”

Three years later, Walcik is proud to announce that the Texas District is now three years free of lost time incidents. This impressive accomplishment also includes nearly 3.5 million hours worked, which includes hours from sole and joint venture projects.

He says proper planning, preparation and communication are at the heart of his safety strategy: “We ensure that we have the proper tools, the proper equipment, the proper PPE, and that we are always setting up our employees for success.”

Walcik also says safety initiatives get the support needed, from executive leadership on down.

As for the next big accomplishment, he says he prefers a measured approach: “I am encouraging our leadership, staff, supervisors and employees, to focus on one day at a time. Then perhaps, three hundred and some odd days from now, I can report where we are, and if we reached another milestone.”

He can’t help but smile about what he and his team have accomplished.

“It is not an easy one to achieve by any means, and many companies only dream of receiving this type of accolade.”