On Wednesday, April 3, Korellis hosted its annual Safety Fest to promote safety practices that ensure everyone in the field gets home after a job. The Safety Fest was attended by every member of Korellis’ field team; production halts at all project jobsites for the day as a commitment to the training.
A tradition for over two decades, Korellis’ Safety Fest offers hands-on learning opportunities that help its employees avoid serious injury or harm while doing everyday jobs. This year’s courses included instruction on everything from ergonomics to maintain the body through physical labor to fall protection to asbestos awareness.
“We wanted to be hands-on and active throughout the day,” said Dustin Dunham, mason and elected chair of the Korellis Safety Committee. “When we're hands-on, I think people pay a lot more attention.”
This year’s classes were selected based on feedback from the field team, who wanted a chance to learn more about the tools they use every day. Project Safety Manager Derek Crews could see how engaged his class was during their session. Crews joined Korellis three months ago, but the tradespeople he’s worked with have been welcoming since day one.
“As the new guy, it feels incredible to have such a large group of men and women so willing to listen to me when I show up at a job site,” Crews said. “I think that's the most crucial thing; every roofer, every sheet metal worker, every tradesperson I've met, regardless of how long they've been doing it, has that willingness to listen and that willingness to learn.”
Across all levels of Korellis, safety is the biggest consideration.
“Korellis – the senior management and everyone involved – places safety as the top priority. They place safety above production; they place safety above cost,” said Crews. “To me, that's the ultimate gesture as a company to its employees: to actually walk the walk and show that it’s truly placing safety as its top priority.”
This gesture is one that hasn’t gone unnoticed by employees and isn’t just practiced during Safety Fest. Korellis has several employees that have been with the company for well over a decade thanks to the company culture.
“It is nice knowing that the main goal is to try and get everyone home safely,” said Sheet Metal Foreman Andrew Robledo.
Robledo has been with Korellis for 12 years and appreciates that every Safety Fest is different than the one before. Every year, he’s presented with something new that he can take into his jobs moving forward.
“I know because I've been here so long that things change,” said Robledo. “Say we do fire safety one year, and then a few years later down the road you think you remember it, but everything always changes. It's good to mix it up and keep everybody refreshed on things they might not be used to.”
Ultimately, Safety Fest drives home every year that Korellis’ top commitment is to its employees. When Korellis’ crews are safe, they can perform at their best every time.
“It's a nice event to get everybody in here to see what we do as a company, how we keep everyone fresh and trained on the different things that we do, ” Robledo said. “It’s also good to see everybody make a big thing of safety and make it exciting and fun.”
To learn more about Korellis, visit korellis.com