Safety is a core value of all asphalt pavement companies. For this week’s episode of Pave It Black, we talk to Coral Todd of Duval Asphalt about what that value looks like in daily practice. Coral came to the asphalt industry after a long career in environmental health and safety, with a background in industrial microbiology. She brought a different idea with her. Safety isn’t a separate program running alongside operations. It’s part of stewardship: caring for the people, equipment, projects and vision entrusted to you.
At Duval, that idea shows up in a “good saves” program, which lets crew members report hazards and near misses as they happen. Coral says the app is only the starting point. The real system shows up when employees own corrective action. She also shares WINS, her shorthand for workable, innovative, new solutions. Her point is that the best answers usually come from the people closest to the work.
Here’s a sneak peek into this week’s conversation but be sure to tune in to the full episode for all the insights. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts.
BW: When you talk about stewardship, it seems like a concept you’re putting on top of a lot of different perspectives, right? You’re bringing perspectives from different parts of the company and looking at things through different lenses to help the company move forward. I’m curious if you could share a practice that Duval didn’t have in the past, and how these stewardship conversations have helped evolve practices that impact crew safety or help the team be better stewards for each other and for the business as a whole.
CT: I love how you said better stewards for each other, because that is key. One idea I brought that has blossomed, and I think that’s the right word, at Duval is our good saves. I presented the EHS app in one of our committees because I think it puts the voice of the employee into practice.
They’re the ones doing the work. They’re the ones using the equipment. They’re the ones doing the process. They’re the ones who know, “Man, that was a good save. That was a hazard worth identifying.” I use the term good save because it saves you time, saves you money, and saves you heartache, right? Is it perfect? No. The app is only a mechanism. The system begins after we report: who owns the corrective action, what’s due, and what’s completed.
