Gaines and Company Proudly Recognizes Safety Achievements of Two North Carolina Employees

North Carolina Quarterly Safety Award – Second Quarter 2020

Gaines and Company, a turnkey site development company with office locations in Maryland and North Carolina, has a proven reputation of completing industry-leading work while maintaining ethical practices with a strong dedication to safety and environmental awareness. In support of its dedication to safety, the company awards a Safety Excellence Award each quarter to a recipient in each of its locations. Because of outstanding displays of teamwork and safety in the North Carolina location in the second quarter of 2020, management recognized two deserving safety award recipients—Anthony Packer and Tony Hooks.

Anthony Packer awarded Gaines and Company Safety Excellence Award, North Carolina, Q2 2020
(left to right: Foreman Jose Ramirez, Awardee Anthony Packer, Safety Director Rob Cameron)

Anthony Packer

Anthony Packer, Utility Division operator, works at the Fort Bragg location installing, repairing, and upgrading water and sewer lines. His work requires not only careful attention to detail, but also extreme diligence to safety.

“I nominated Anthony for this award because he takes care of his team. He has a lot of responsibility on the machine he operates—it’s a pretty powerful machine. He holds a lot of people’s lives in his hands. But he is always looking out for us and always keeps safety in mind. I know if I ever leave to do something, he is my second pair of eyes out in the field,” said Foreman Jose Ramirez.

Anthony started his Gaines and Company career as a laborer. He has since earned his way into his current operator role.

“He has retained everything from his training plus more. He watches out for the guys who aren’t as experienced and does a fantastic job watching over everyone else, making sure they are doing their jobs correctly,” said Superintendent Mark Butcher.

Safety Director Dominic Pope added, “Anthony goes above and beyond. He’s not afraid to ask questions, and he is adamant about making sure the trench is safe before he lets anyone go in.”

In additional to his work-specific training, Anthony has also completed his Competent Person Training, Confined Space Training, First Aid/CPR Training, Rigging Training, Fire Protection, and Ladder Safety.

Tony Hooks awarded Gaines and Company Safety Excellence Award, North Carolina, Q2 2020
(left to right: Safety Director Rob Cameron, Awardee Tony Hooks, Foreman Frazier)

Tony Hooks

Tony Hooks is a member of the Ground Crew. He is skilled in a variety of tasks to perfect jobs prior paving, grading, and other finishing work. Tony often works in confined spaces and high traffic areas. Not only does his work require specialized training, but it also has heightened safety risks.

“He doesn’t let anyone – whether it’s other Gaines employees, the public, or even subcontractors – be unsafe,” said Safety Director Dominic Pope. “He’s not afraid to speak up, especially with new hires. He’s just always watching over everybody, making him the ideal recipient of this award.”

Tony was nominated for the Safety Excellence Award by his foreman, Frazier.

“Tony is willing to do anything and shows a concern for his work. There’s nothing that I can ask that he’s not willing to do without problem,” said Frazier. “He’s a hard worker. He will go from A to Z with a thorough thought process. I really like that and it really helps us out. He takes extra precautions to make sure everybody is doing everything the right way.”

Superintendent Mark Butcher added, “Tony’s job – and those he works directly with – is physically strenuous and potentially dangerous. He goes out of his way to guide those with less experience along, ensuring that newer people do not get in harm’s way. Essentially, he is the watchdog of the Ground Crew.”

In addition to his job-specific training, Tony has also successfully completed Confined Space Training, First Aid/CPR Training, Rigging Training, Fire Protection, and Ladder Safety.

Anthony and Tony were each presented a certificate, exclusive Safety Excellence Awardee hat, imprinted Gaines and Company cup, and $150 in safety bucks to use on gear in the company’s online safety store. They will compete against all other quarterly awardees for the year-end 2020 Safety Excellence Award, which is selected at the end of the year by company superintendents.