Empowering Employees to Speak Up for Safety – Safe and Sound Week 2025

Gaines and Company crew members in front of company truck with food prior to onsite safety meeting

Gaines and Company’s grading and utility crews regularly meet (often with food!) to discuss individual and team safety, continually improving the company-wide safety culture.

Gaines and Company recognizes working safely during Safe and Sound Week and all year long!

OSHA’s 2025 Safe and Sound Week ran from August 11-17. This annual, nationwide event celebrates successful workplace safety and health programs, while challenging organizations to constantly focus on workplace safety and continually enhance company-wide safety programs.

Operator sits in excavator while crew members stand in front of it and participate in a safety brief led by Gaines and Company’s Safety Director

Safety Director Dominic Pope conducts an onsite safety brief.

We once again recognized the event throughout our footprint, which includes Maryland, North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and the Washington D.C. area. But our crews don’t just gather to discuss safety once a year. We meet on a consistent basis to talk about personal safety observations and reiterate safety values.

“I get together with our crews on a regular basis. It’s a great way to get a pulse on their safety observations and grow not just as individuals and crews, but as an organization,” said Safety Director Dominic Pope.

Gaines and Company’s Safety Manager awards North Carolina’s Quarterly Safety Award in front of large equipment

Safety Manager Tommy Trent awards North Carolina’s quarterly safety award, which is another way that Gaines and Company recognizes safety on a regular basis throughout the year.

Safety Manager Tommy Trent added, “Our crews have a desire to continually develop into more unified teams. They don’t approach safety as an obligation, rather a common goal they want to achieve together.”

Gaines and Company is an industry leader in safety, proudly receiving various safety awards over its 70+ years as an organization. We have a strong safety culture that runs throughout the entire organization – from leadership to crews – empowering all employees to speak up for safety. We meet as teams not only in recognition of Safe and Sound Week, but all year long to generate safer ideas and discussions.

Gaines and Company is a full-service grading and excavation company with offices in Maryland and North Carolina. The organization has over 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.