THE NALP EXPERIENCE


HAVING A SAFE COMPANY DOES NOT ONLY MEAN FEWER accidents and lower insurance and workers’ comp costs. Being a safe organization helps retain and attract the right people to your company. “No one wants to come to work and have the risk of being injured,” says Paul Lutz, director of safety and fleet operations for Aspen Grove Landscape Group, LLC. “Landscaping can be extremely hazardous at times, and people and their families expect that we keep them safe from harm. It is very important to know you are valued and your number one need in life is taken care of, while in the line of duty: your health and safety.” Aspen Grove Landscape Group had five of its companies earn the Best of the Best Safety Award this year.


James River Grounds Management, Inc. – Glen Allen, Virginia


James River Grounds Management – Midlothian, Virginia


Reliable Property Services (corporate) – St. Paul, Minnesota


Reliable Property Services – Waunakee, Wisconsin


The Landscape Partners – Fort Worth, Texas


Safety Advice from the Best of the Best Award Winners


By Jill Odom 16 The Landscape Professional //November/December 2020


“These safety accolades provide an overwhelming sense of pride for the men and women of Aspen Grove,” Lutz says. “All the Aspen Grove Landscape teams have worked very hard to make safety the top influencer in all aspects of their operations. Personally, it is not the accolades or the prestige, it is about sleeping at night and knowing you did the right thing.” The Best of the Best Safety Award is presented to landscaping companies who have maintained the Overall Safety Achievement award – Gold level status for three consecutive years. Lutz along with the other Best of the Best Safety Award winners for 2020 share some of the practices they implement to operate as safe companies year after year.


MOST EFFECTIVE SAFETY POLICIES Robert Salas II, president of Pacific


Federal Management, based in Tamon, Guam, says they create a culture of safety starting with onboarding. “To further instill the culture of safety in the company we created a safety committee comprised of team mem- bers from all levels of the organiza- tion including field staff,” Salas says. “The safety committee is tasked with preparing together safety information and material for dissemination to the groups and brainstorming potential safety issues and solutions.” Chris Testa, president of United


Right-of-Way, based in Phoenix, Arizona, says training is paramount for them. “Often people are hired based on ex- perience levels,” Testa says. “We expect a person in the field to demonstrate their knowledge of equipment including vehicles and hand tools before they are just put on or assigned to lead a crew. If a new hire is considered entry-level, we work with that individual in steps to train them properly.” Lutz says all of their safety policies are equally important but two, in partic- ular, pave the way. One is a strict policy on incident reporting. “This policy is plain and simple: you cannot over report, only under report,” Lutz says. “Our safety culture provides a positive environment in which to report unplanned events. This has enabled us to lower our exposure to these un- planned events by focusing resources on managing the event at the lowest level and preventing the chance of reoc- currence. Simply, we want to know what we do not know and we want to fix it!” Testa says they also document everything including “near misses” and potential hazards. “When an incident does occur, the office is to be notified immediately and a check list is followed,” Testa says. “We have a written statement/report for the individual, the crew and immediate supervisor for each to complete. Those are reviewed by management, and then discussed. If an employee simply writes down ‘I was not paying attention’ that is addressed, and we dig deeper and com- pare notes and speak to the employees involved so we all learn.” Lutz says the second policy is the implementation of the five life safety rules, which are the top five things that could get someone hurt. These are cell phones, not wearing a seatbelt, unsafe driving, not using ROPS and tampering with intrinsic safeties on a machine. “Our most effective policy is we have monthly meetings every month and we have a booklet that we go through that has a different thing to talk about safety for landscaping,” says Larry Craig, safety and quality control manager for Curby’s Lawn & Garden based in Olathe, Kansas.


Likewise, Tony Gile, general manager for Alliance Landscape Company, based in Fort Worth, Texas, says their weekly Tuesday morning safety meeting is their most productive policy. Every week they cover a safety topic or open discussion


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