Barriere Puts Safety First with Employee Representative Safety Committee

2021 Barriere Safety Committee member and Asphalt Superintendent Will Phillips receiving his commemorative jacket at the final Committee meeting of the year.

Safety First is one of Barriere’s core values, and our comprehensive, iterative safety program is foundational to our Culture of Care. The entire Barriere family carries out this central part of our legacy through an ongoing Journey to Zero Incidents. Executives are involved and employees are empowered as, together, we build a stronger, safer company.

Barriere’s top priority is the safety and wellbeing of our employees, their families and the traveling public.

Barriere has an executive-chaired, employee-representative Safety Committee that gives a diverse range of employees from different parts of the company an official voice in enhancing our zero-incident safety culture. The Committee meets monthly, reviews data and considers trends that impact our work culture and environment, and has ongoing communications about the general wellbeing of the Barriere family that develop into plans for action when needed.

Barriere promotes safe work zones for ALL.

At the end of 2020, Barriere’s internal data pointed to a need for safer work zones for workers on foot around construction vehicles and equipment, so the 2021 Safety Committee developed Internal Traffic Control Plan templates to readily adapt to each work site. The Committee broke into subgroups to facilitate effective design and adoption of site-specific ITCPs through:

  • Further review and analysis of established policies and processes
  • Policy and process updates
  • Creation of operations-specific diagrams 
  • Development of a video-supported instructional eLearning module
  • Integration of ITCPs into the established Task Analysis Review process with follow-up audits and further video support for documentation purposes

Superintendents, Foremen and/or Field Engineers are now supported in creating site-specific ITCPs that are signed off on by Project Managers then uploaded into Barriere’s project management software. Field employees provide input for updates, creating a feedback loop that allows for company-wide continuous improvement – another Barriere core value.

The 2022 Safety Committee will continue to improve upon the important work of the 2021 Committee, which includes:

  • Peter Wilson, President/CEO
  • Paul Albrecht, Sr. Director of Safety and Training
  • Les Mays, Safety Manager
  • Jennifer Riecke, Safety and Claims Assistant
  • Keena Creason, Field Safety Coordinator
  • Joe Matias, Field Safety Coordinator
  • Emily Faschan, Business Development and Communications Coordinator
  • Karl Kleinbeck, Training and Development Specialist
  • Marcus Jenkins, Asphalt Foreman
  • Brian Martin, Field Engineer
  • Dillon Lee, Field Engineer
  • Brent Neal, Project Manager
  • Zach Schilling, Project Manager
  • Drew Keightley, Superintendent
  • Ryan Marciante, Logistics Coordinator
  • Donald Usry, Plant Manager III
  • Jordan Licciardi, Estimator
  • Christian Valeton, Project Manager/Estimator
  • Will Phillips, Asphalt Superintendent

Two 2021 Safety Interns, Anna Poole and Olaitan Akintimehin, also sat on the Committee during Barriere’s 2021 Internship Program.

Members of Barriere’s 2021 Safety Committee at the year-end meeting.

LET BARRIERE BE YOUR SOLUTION

Get in touch to receive information or an estimate for your upcoming project.
BARRIERE PROJECT CONTACT FORM

JOIN THE
BARRIERE TEAM

Come join our team to make a difference in your community.