Photo by Aaron Fuller
Companywide Safety Mentor Program to Drive Safety Culture
16 16 November/December 2019 2019 The Conveyor | www.martinmarietta.com
He was new to the industry and
had been on the job for just three
months, but sitting in his truck
and listening as a contractor put on the
pressure, Ready Mix Driver Richard
Adame remained calm. He’d been given
the tools to succeed.
“He wanted me to back into a spot with
a sharp decline, but it was just too tight,”
Adame says while recounting a pivotal
moment in his Martin Marietta career.
“He kept pushing, telling me that it was
the quickest way to do the job. I took a
breath, then calmly explained that
backing into the spot wouldn’t be safe for
me, his crew or my truck.”
Adame got out of the vehicle, took a
few moments to analyze the jobsite and
then presented the contractor with
another idea.
“He heard me out,” Adame says. “The
work took a bit longer, but we got it done
in a safe way. In that moment, I realized
Chris Hill (left), a mentor
at Highway 85 Ready
Mix in Colorado,
works with Mentee
Richard Adame.
that I could take everything my safety
mentor (Chris Hill) had taught me and
put it into action.”
In an incredibly difficult situation,
Adame’s confidence came from his
thorough training. He and Hill had spent
countless hours going over the key points
of his new position – from the company’s
safety standards, to the equipment and
its operation, to the many attitudes he
may encounter on the job.
While such lessons are common for all
employees regardless of their geography,
responsibility or business line, the way
they’ve been taught has varied at Martin
Marietta. Soon, that will change.
“A significant percentage of our
reportable incidents in the past few years
have involved employees with fewer than
two years of service,” says Vice President
of Safety and Health Michael Hunt.
“Recognizing this concerning trend, the
World Class Task Force’s Safety Team
This logo will be included in all
Safety Mentor Program materials.
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