Martin Marietta’s safety evolution
Ten years after becoming the company’s enterprise safety culture, Guardian Angel continues to evolve and grow
FOR 10 years, Martin Marietta's Guardian Angel safety culture has helped keep the company's team members safe. Now, with the company bigger and stronger than ever before, Guardian Angel is ready to take a new step forward.
Today a fully developed safety culture, Guardian Angel’s story began at Beckmann Quarry in 1999. After spreading across Texas and other parts of the Southwest Division, it emerged several years later in pockets of what were then the West and Midwest Divisions.
By 2015 – soon after the acquisition of TXI Inc. nearly doubled the company’s size – leaders sought a safety culture that could serve the enterprise and Guardian Angel met the mark.
‘We were discussing the idea of a companywide programme during our biennial leadership meeting,’ said Michael Hunt, vice-president of safety and health. ‘Many of our divisions and districts had developed their own safety programmes, but when we started to discuss Guardian Angel, the entire room took a collective pause. It was instant – ‘This is us. This is who we are.’’
A decade since its companywide implementation, Guardian Angel is more established than ever, said director of safety and health Chris Downs.
‘The goal continues to be ZERO. Every hour. Every day,’ he said. ‘It has been great to see so many embody the spirit of the Guardian Angel creed. The culture is still growing and continually evolving.’
Mr Downs said that while the safety culture’s core tenets have remained consistent over the years, operational and safety leaders have regularly refined Guardian Angel training and communication to ensure it stays relevant and relatable.
With Guardian Angel celebrating its milestone anniversary, partnering with professionals from across the enterprise to again move the safety culture significantly forward felt appropriate, according to Mr Downs.
‘We have had so many of our amazing people come together to refocus on our culture and bring in new ideas that we have then expanded upon,’ he said. ‘Guardian Angel has been, and will continue to be, a vital element of safety at Martin Marietta. But we have put considerable effort into reimagining our Guardian Angel tools. This is how our safety culture will continue to improve and continue to thrive.’
Among the most visible recent changes is the addition of Guardian Angel branding to personal protective equipment (PPE), including safety gloves and safety glasses.
After partnering with HexArmor to design gloves and glasses in Martin Marietta blue and granite that feature the Guardian Angel logo, the items were made available through the PPE safety catalogue.
The gloves feature the Guardian Angel logo on the wrist to remind the wearer about the importance of being a committed wingman. Constructed from breathable fabric, the gloves are available in multiple sizes and styles. To comply with all safety standards, they are cut- and impact-resistant and provide industrial puncture protection. The safety glasses – available with both clear or dark grey lenses – are similarly functional, safe and stylish.
More substantial are the changes set for Guardian Angel Refresher Training, an annual occurrence across all divisions.
The enterprise safety function has introduced numerous tools in recent years to strengthen Guardian Angel, including a revised edition of the Basic Safety Rules that are part of the new training, whilst additional ideas such as the family-focused ‘Why I Work Safely’ campaign, the action-based concept of ‘courage to act’, and the notion of legacy are all prominent elements of the new Refresher Training curriculum.
‘We want to make sure this training is more interactive and engaging,’ Mr Downs said. ‘Our hope is that people will see how far safety has come at Martin Marietta and feel duty-bound to strengthen it even more. When we talk about our individual legacies, we should seriously consider what we do to make this business safer for future generations.’
Honouring those who have driven safety at Martin Marietta, the new training subtly highlights Guardian Angel’s journey from fledgling safety programme to mature safety culture.
East Division director of safety Ronnie Constable began his Martin Marietta tenure soon after Guardian Angel’s companywide debut and has been involved in many of the most recent efforts to strengthen safety.
‘Guardian Angel is intrinsically valuable, and that’s something we all understand,’ said Mr Constable. ‘When we deliver this training in the East Division, we ensure that at least one hourly employee leads the training because when Guardian Angel’s messages are delivered to our people from colleagues who are in a similar position, the impact is just incredible.’
In the very near future, the redesigned Guardian Angel Refresher Training will be supplemented with new presentations centred on the Guardian Angel Fundamentals programme and a companywide SLAM (Stop, Look, Analyse, Manage) form.
A key element in the new refresher training is a recently produced Guardian Angel safety video.
Filmed at numerous locations across the company and featuring team members from every division and business line, the video focuses on the same themes present in the in-person refresher training.
The new production replaces a video that was created in support of Guardian Angel’s 2015 launch. While the former video focused largely on stories that illustrated a need for Guardian Angel, the latest video highlights stories from people who have allowed the safety culture to change their lives.
‘We interviewed people who have truly taken Guardian Angel into their hearts and minds,’ said Michael Hunt. ‘As you would expect, we included ‘Wingman Stories’ from people who live out our safety culture at work, but we also spoke with people who bring Guardian Angel home to their families. We wanted to show people that when you truly adopt Guardian Angel, it can be a positive change for you and your loved ones.’
Mr Constable said he and the others who worked on designing the new Guardian Angel resources hope the fresh material will move employees to recommit to the Guardian Angel creed and look after one another every day.
‘This training will hopefully arm our employees with the confidence to speak up when they feel they need to,’ he said. ‘We want everyone to know that they are empowered to stop work for any reason related to safety. We want them to feel comfortable acting as good wingmen.’
Magnesia Specialties’ senior safety manager Shane Surd said that while Guardian Angel continues to evolve, it is equally important that our people grow and change as well.
‘When Guardian Angel was rolled out, it was driven by a relatively small group of employees, which is why it took some time for it to truly take root,’ he said. ‘Now, we want every member of our team to be a champion and a wingman because for Guardian Angel to be truly effective, it needs each of us working together.’
Mr Hunt said he is confident the latest efforts to strengthen Guardian Angel will be impactful but stressed that the safety culture’s legacy is already secure.
‘I’ve met with countless industry professionals, leaders from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and so many others, and every one of them has been impressed by Guardian Angel and the impact it has had on our people. It truly is a best-in-class safety culture. When we consider where Guardian Angel is today, I think we should be incredibly proud.
‘What is great about Martin Marietta is that while our people are comfortable celebrating what they have achieved, they never stop planning for the future. There is no magic pill to get to ZERO; it will take hard teamwork day in and day out. That same spirit is what will strengthen Guardian Angel for generations of workers and their families.’
