Big Victory for Gaines and Company – 2019 Winner of ‘Dig Smart’ Award
Gaines and Company receives the 2019 Dig Smart Award at the Greater Chesapeake Damage Prevention Training Conference.
Every year for the past eleven years, Miss Utility/District One Call and Miss Utility of Delmarva has handed out three awards at the annual Greater Chesapeake Damage Prevention Training Conference [GCDPTC] .
One of those awards—the “Dig Smart” Award—recognizes a company for an exemplary record of following excavation protocol on their construction sites. This year, Gaines and Company Site Development was the top winner of the Dig Smart Award, acknowledging their dedication to the ‘811’ rules and most of all—keeping safety at the top of their list.
Dominic Pope, [CHST]—Safety Director at Gaines and Company in Maryland— emphasizes that “… this is a team effort in the field, and if it wasn’t for the superintendents, foremen and workers out there onsite and their due diligence, we wouldn’t have received this award.” In fact, managing the ‘811’ protocol is no easy task, according to Mr. Pope.
The largest local utility around the metro area—Baltimore Gas & Electric Company—has nearly 16,000 circuit miles of underground electric lines and more than 7,000 miles of buried natural gas lines throughout the central Maryland region; not including all the other underground communications cables, water and sewer lines of other utility companies.
David Gaines, Vice President and Dominic Pope, Safety Director of Gaines and Company with the Dig Smart Awards Committee at the Greater Chesapeake Damage Prevention Training Conference.
Since its launch in 2009, the GCDPTC has provided facility operators, locators, excavators, regulators, engineers and other professionals who work near underground facilities with an unrivaled combination of informative training sessions, relevant exhibitors and networking opportunities.
With more than 400 attendees, the conference in Ocean City, MD every October reminds construction companies of the importance of safety and the ongoing effort to maintain high standards. In line with those sentiments, Gaines and Company always participates in National 811 Day, SAFE+SOUND week and are members of the National Safety Council, NUCA (National Utility Contractors Association) and AUCOMD (Associated Utility Contractors of Maryland), attending all monthly meetings.
Gaines and Company is celebrating 65 years in business as a turn-key site development and management company specializing in underground utilities, grading, excavating, erosion controls and road work. Their North Carolina team recently completed their work on development projects around and near the Raleigh-Durham Beltway Loop and have several big projects underway in DC and Maryland. For Gaines and Company, this award was a great boost, ending the year on a high note as they prepare to do it all again in 2020.
