Gaines and Company Awards Pipelayer with Safety Recognition

Jose “Bullwinkle” Villalta (left) was recognized by Safety Director Dominic Pope (right) for his exceptionally safe site development work as a utilities pipelayer.

Gaines and Company’s safety mission states that “safety on the job and the health and personal safety of each employee is of primary importance in all phases of operation and administration.” It is not enough to simply make this statement. It must also be supported by visible actions throughout all aspects of the company’s work performance. This means not cutting corners to meet deadlines, not altering tools and equipment to reduce cost, and not skipping steps because they seem unnecessary. Safety Excellence Achievement Award recipient, Jose Villalta, routinely displays his committed dedication to safety throughout his work.

“A company’s safety culture is not going to be successful if employees recognize safety as a value but stop there,” said Gaines and Company Safety Director Dominic Pope. “Employees have to actively integrate that value into all aspects of their daily work while ensuring that crew members around them are doing the same. One of our employees who does that best is Jose Villalta.”

Jose Villalta (affectionately known as “Bullwinkle”) has been a pipelayer for Gaines and Company for almost four years. He started with the company as a laborer and is now responsible for preparing, laying, and installing various-sized pipe for specialized water, sewer, and storm drain projects. He is certified in OSHA 10, Confined Space, and First Aid/CPR.

Dominic added, “Pipelayers are responsible for working with a mix of power tools, hand tools, and heavy equipment. Ensuring the condition of the tools and equipment for safe work practices is a huge part of their jobs that most people don’t think about. Jose always thinks about this, though. He knows that work cannot get delivered successfully if it cannot be done safely.”

Both his current and past foremen have always spoken very highly of Jose and his safe work performance. Foreman Dave Ruffa said, “I nominated Jose for this award because he always puts safety first. For example, he always has his hard hat on, ladder in a ditch, and if he sees someone doing something wrong, he stops the work to make sure the crew moves forward safely. He wants to make sure no one ever gets hurt.”

Jose was awarded a Safety Excellence Achievement Award certificate, exclusive award recipient hat, and $150 in safety bucks to use on gear on the company’s online safety store. He is also in the running for the 2022 Safety Excellence Award, which will be awarded at the end of the year.

Dominic added, “He is a bull when it comes to work, but has a heart the size of Texas. Jose is a great all-around employee.”