1775 Old 6 Road
PO Box 535
Brooklyn, IA 52211
Phone: 641-522-9206
fax: 641-522-5594

Everyone puts his training to the test
to deal with the "emergency" at hand.

How many times have we used that adage? At Wendling, we do far more then hope for the best, we hire the right people, and we provide all the required safety training and then some. We look into every regulation and interpretation.

Why do we do this? Everyone wants their coworkers to be as safety minded as they are. We want everyone to be trained to recognize safety hazards. We want to know the latest rules governing our industry; most exist because someone, somewhere, paid for it with an unpleasant experience. We want to be safe around the numerous pieces of equipment and chemical agents that we use.

So, with all of that effort to be safe, there is no need to train for the “what if’s”, is there? We all know better than that. In past articles I have mentioned the involved First Aid Training we do. This year we have taken it one step further. Through the winter we developed a new Crisis Management Program. Early this season we trained on the program. In the month of June we put all of this training to the test.

Simulated accidents were staged at crew sites and the guys went into action. Besides the necessary rendering of first aid, we put the Crisis Management steps into action. The steps include notification of key personnel, notification of EMS, traffic control in the quarries, dealing with the media and so on. Having walked through it this one time, I am certain that in the real situation everyone will do that much better. This type of training will be ongoing, and we will continue to improve.

I strongly believe that the more realistic, hands-on, in-the-field training we can perform, the better off we will all be in the case where the “worst” happens.