North Carolina’s Utilities Main Line Operator Receives Safety Excellence Achievement Award

Luis Ramirez (left) is presented the Gaines and Company Safety Excellence Achievement Award for successfully integrating safety into production operations.

Luis Ramirez is certainly familiar with Gaines and Company’s Safety Excellence Achievement Award. He understands that it represents doing his job safely. He understands that it represents keeping his coworkers safe. Most of all, he understands that it represents continually pushing the limits of Gaines and Company’s safety culture. Luis Ramirez was awarded the Safety Excellence Achievement Award for the third time (and even the 2021 year-end recognition!) since 2019.

Luis Ramirez is a utilities-division main line operator in Gaines and Company’s North Carolina location and has worked for the company for 21 years. He is responsible for digging trenches, hooking up and laying pipe, and making sure the ground is suitable for safe work. In addition to his work-specific training, Luis is certified in Competent Person Training, Confined Space Training, First Aid/CPR Training, Rigging Training, Fire Protection, and Ladder Safety.

Gaines and Company Safety Director Dominic Pope said, “Luis successfully integrates safety into production operations throughout the workday. He does not just perform his work safely, though. He also makes sure the entire crew works safely every day.”

“Luis is an extraordinary operator and shows that he has the integrity to do the right thing even when no one is watching,” added Brady Degroft, Luis’s foreman who nominated him for the award.

Luis received a Safety Excellence Achievement Award certificate, an exclusive award recipient hat, $150 in safety bucks to use on gear on the company’s online safety store, and is in the running for the 2022 Year-End Safety Excellence Award.