District 5 recognizes safe employees

By Cody Beers

District 5 has launched a new way to recognize safety-minded workers.

Dubbed the “Safety Leadership Award,” District 5 administrators asked each supervisor to nominate one individual in each work program – Construction, Maintenance, Traffic and Equipment – to recognize for going above and beyond in safe work practices.

“The nominees will have their name and the reason why they were nominated in the district newsletter,” said Jerry Fritz, WYDOT District 5 safety officer. “Following nominations, the District 5 Safety Committee will review the nominees and choose three to send to District Staff. The District Staff will choose one of those three to receive the Safety Leadership Award.”

The D5 winner will receive his or her name on a plaque that will be displayed at the District headquarters office in Basin, a safety leadership jacket, and lunch with the district engineer and/ or the department supervisor.

First-year winners of the D5 Safety Leadership Awards include:

• Thermopolis engineer Lance Schatz, who helped create an easier daily briefing form, for consistently researching proper safety policies, and for involving himself in safe work prac- tices on projects when working with contractors

• Shoshoni/Riverton maintenance worker Austin Nolan for his life-saving efforts to improve safety and flag the crash during the aftermath of the incident between Shoshoni and Casper

• Traffic technician Tim Martel of Lander, who fabricated a part to fix a garage door routinely used by plow drivers.

Items considered to qualify the individual for the D5 safety leadership award consideration include: making a contribution to the health and safety of other state employees, including guiding them in the safety policies of the state; performing an action apart from their job duties; setting superior standards for fellow employees to follow; designing or creating an item, document or program that will help minimize accidents; and contributing regularly at safety meetings.

“I’m positive that each supervisor has an individual who would qualify for this award, so please take the time to nominate someone in the future,” Fritz said.