Teamwork involves working together with a purpose. For this reason, Safety Stand Down is important to company executives as they continue to learn in the field alongside Tarpon employees.

As safety is priority one for Tarpon, Safety Stand Down expanded from last year to include three coordinating teams working together with Kevin Fleury, Tarpon’s President and CEO, Gary Belcher, Tarpon’s Chief Operating Officer and Rick Wickland, Tarpon’s Senior Vice President, Electric & Controls Division.

With guidance from Enform, the organization that oversees the program, Tarpon chose the theme – Drive Safely. “We wanted to align with this year’s safety calendar and the November insert of the Reel News to help emphasize the importance of driving carefully behind the wheel,” says Kim Willmer, Director – Quality, Environment, Health & Safety. “During the three days we spent at the branches and worksites, we also took the opportunity to recognize how safety impacts every aspect of our jobs and our home life.”

According to the Safety Stand Down website at www.safetystanddown.ca, the program, in its sixth consecutive year, continues to expand on new ideas and enhancements. The website includes several insightful quotes from other company executives on raising the awareness of safety. “It is also important to note that Safety Stand Down provides an excellent opportunity to include contractors and subcontractors as well as clients and employees,” says Willmer. “This year some of our employees not only participated in Tarpon’s program, they were also invited along on our clients’ field trips.”

Safety Stand Down takes place with one event in mid-January. “The comments shared by the executives have been very positive; so, as an innovation to this year’s program, we are considering holding an event bi-annually,” says Willmer. “An additional session would allow us to visit all the Tarpon locations in a single year. We can then deliver an annual theme throughout all our operations.”