Page 79 - 2022 Sustainability Report

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

however, is the responsibility we have to care for our environment. We want to make sure that the land we leave behind
can be properly and safely enjoyed for generations to come.”

Enhanced by Our Presence

Winner of The Company’s Diamond Award Hickory Quarry Champions Stewardship

With more than three decades on the job, Robert Church is
an expert in just about all things mining. Though he’s seen
colleagues come and go over the years as Hickory Quarry
has grown and thrived, he says there’s something special
about the team’s current roster.

“We have some great people here,” the weighmaster says.
“This quarry is an exceptional place to work and that’s
because the people here care for one another.”

From a production standpoint, the group’s tons-per-man-
hour is up more than 40% since 2018; its sales are up
about 50% during the same time frame. On the innovation
front, the team initiated several changes and upgrades that
have made mining at the site far more efficient. In terms of
community engagement, Hickory’s people are committed
to being good neighbors and supporting those who need it most. Importantly, says Plant Manager Brian Hamrick , the site
is also safer than it has ever been. “We have a longstanding safety tradition, and it’s one we’re proud to uphold,” he
says. “We challenge ourselves continuously to not tarnish that tradition and to do everything we can to strengthen it.”

While honoring the Company’s Guardian Angel culture, the team holds daily and weekly safety meetings, conducts
enhanced SLAMs, and engages in a monthly hazard recognition program. Hamrick says the group has also made a
number of modifications to its operation to ensure safety is the top priority.

“We’ve added steps and catwalks to our conveyors to give us easier access, so it’s safer when we perform maintenance,”
he says. “One of the simplest, but most effective, safety changes we’ve made involves a green cone system we developed
based on a suggestion from an employee.”

Using the cones, the system outlined specific areas near the site’s loadout where customer vehicles can be safely loaded
with minimal confusion and maximum safety. Foreman Rodney Stallings says the team’s strong safety performance—they
have achieved world-class safety in each of the past eight years—is the primary reason they won this year’s Diamond Elite
Award. “Guardian Angel has definitely played a big role in this award,” he says. “It’s driven safety to the point where
we’re operating on a stretch of more than 2 million hours without a lost-time incident. It’s really an awesome record, and
we talk it about it often. None of us wants to be the one to end it.”

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