North Carolina Operator Looks Out for the Safety of His Crew
Jose Cruz (left) awarded 2025 Year-End Safety Excellence Achievement Award from Safety Manager Tommy Trent (right) for leading others to work safely.
Jose has worked for Gaines and Company for seven years and continually shows an unwavering commitment to safe work, not only for himself, but for his entire crew. He takes time to answer questions from others and leads by example, earning him the 2025 Year-End Safety Excellence Achievement Award.
Recipient: Jose Cruz
Title: Operator, Grading Crew
2025 Year-End Safety Excellence Achievement Awardee – North Carolina
Jose was awarded 2025’s Q1 Safety Excellence Achievement Award for being a safety leader on his crew. Throughout the rest of the year, his safety behavior never faltered. In fact, his foreman, Moises Velasquez, looks to Jose as a second set of eyes on the job site, always showing others the safest way to complete tasks.
Moises said, “Jose is a constant coach in the field, ensuring everyone goes home safely every day. He will not let work proceed unless he is confident it can be done safely.”
“I know I can count on Jose to make sure everyone on the crew is working safely,” added Safety Manager Tommy Trent. “He takes time to work with the rest of the crew, addressing safety concerns as they arise.”
Year-End Awardees
At the end of 2025, Safety Director Dominic Pope and a team of other managers reviewed all the year’s quarterly safety award winners to identify year-end winners at both Gaines’s Maryland and North Carolina locations. They identified employees who went above and beyond to enhance the company’s safety culture, instilling an instinctive focus on safety throughout their crews.
“We had such a strong pool of recipients this year, so we chose two year-end winners at each location,” Dominic said. “This proves that our safety culture is not driven top-down, rather all employees understand the significant role they each play in ensuring that our workforce remains safe each and every day.”
Andy shares the recognition of the 2025 Year-End Safety Achievement Award winner with three other Gaines and Company employees – Alberto Aguilar (Maryland), Andy Lucas Hernandez (North Carolina), (North Carolina), Juan Valles (Maryland).
2026 – Positive Safety Persistence
So what’s next for Gaines and Company’s safety culture in 2026?
“Our primary goal is to always finish each year with zero accidents or injuries. It is feasible but difficult. As our safety director, I instead focus on creating a positive culture throughout our organization to continue focusing on safety, health, and wellness to achieve this goal,” said Dominic. “We’ve built a successful safety program that empowers all employees to actively advocate for safe work, and it’s awesome to see them drive the program themselves.”
Tommy Trent added, “Our employees know that safety is part of everyone’s job. This gives them all the power to enforce and enhance it – from vice presidents and superintendents to all crew members. It’s a positive work environment that feeds off of the cooperation of the entire workforce. I look forward to where our workforce will take this culture in 2026.”
Gaines and Company is a full-service grading and excavation company with offices in Maryland and North Carolina. The organization has 70 years of experience in underground utilities, grading and excavating, sediment and erosion controls, and road work. Gaines and Company delivers safe, reliable, turnkey site development services in Maryland, North Carolina, Washington D.C., and Delaware on time and within budget.
