McKinstry Recognizes Safety All-Stars and Safety Champion for 2024

“I was VERY surprised when Dean announced me as the safety champion amongst so many great leaders!” Evan said. “This generous award really emphasizes how important our safety is to McKinstry.”

Evan was commended for his outstanding work using McKinstry’s Wait-A-Second pillar on the job. When he was serving as the lift director for a crane pick, the crane subcontractor had set up their crane to lift a rooftop unit weighing approximately 5,000 lbs. During the lift, the operator expressed concern that the crane seemed to be under significant more load than expected.

Taking this seriously, Evan immediately halted all work involving both the subcontractor and McKinstry crews to review the pick plan and double-check each item line by line. He discovered a discrepancy between the listed counterweight and the actual weight used by the subcontractor. The pick plan required a counterweight of over 37,000 lbs., but the crane company had only installed around 8,000 lbs. of counterweight. Further investigation revealed that the subcontractor crew had received incorrect information from their dispatcher regarding the crane lift.

Thanks to Evan, who used our Wait-A-Second pillar and his authority to stop work, he prevented what could have been a serious — and even fatal — incident and allowed everyone to continue the lift with a successful outcome for all.

“For me, safety boils down to being intentional about my priorities and living by them,” Evan said. “Nothing can be placed above the wellbeing of our people. When acting on that, most challenges become a clear decision. For the gray areas, we Wait-A-Second to analyze. If any question remains, compromise is never made that will affect our people.”

Evan Larson