Pub. 1 2018-2019 Issue 4

2 A SUMMER FOR SAFETY Reed Ryan Executive Director The Utah Asphalt Pavement Association EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE W ell, after a rather soggy Spring we are all off and running now at a tremendous pace! Summer is here and so are long days, longer nights, and the chance to improve the great state we live in one project at a time. Or, should I say, multiple projects at a time? The latter being a more accurate portrayal of the world we live and work in now as we juggle multiple commitments, deadlines, and delays each and every day. In the madness that is our now-shortened construction season, it is my hope that safety will remain paramount and at the forefront of our minds as we begin each day (or night in most instances) of work. It’s human nature to make that which is most mundane become trivial in our daily routines. Yet when it comes to safe work zones, safe practices, and safe behavior we can and should be leaders on our projects, on the roads, or at our plants. Pressure will certainly come to make sacrifices as dead- lines approachanddelays lengthen the time needed to complete a job and get paid. This happens each year, but in a year with close to amonth’sworthof delays due toweather, please do not put your safety, or the safety of others, unnecessarily at risk. Just don’t. I realize that’s an easy thing for me to say from the comfort of my office as I type this message, but I love this industry because I love the people I have come to know as result of my work with UAPA over the last seven, close to eight years. We’re all in this together, so let’s keep it that way with all of us getting home safely each morning or night after a long day’s worth of work making this state better. Safety is a strange thing in that it may hardly get recognized until something goes horribly, and often lethally, wrong. Let’s change that mantra – recognize peoplewhen they are being safe, call out your coworker’s excellent care in looking out for you and the other employ- ees at your organization, and find ways to be bold and creative inmaking our industry the best it can be when it comes to safety. As a collective, UAPA has become a strong and unified voice over the last seven years. Let usnever dare to loseone individual out of that chorus due to a poor decisionor rushed deadline this construction season. 3 As a collective, UAPA has become a strong and unified voice over the last seven years. Let us never dare to lose one individual out of that chorus due to a poor decision or rushed deadline this construction season.