Inside ESFM’s Safety Culture: People First, Always

Safety isn’t just about avoiding accidents. It’s about protecting people, keeping teams strong, and maintaining momentum in high-stakes environments.

It’s also good for business. The National Safety Council has reported that workplace injuries cost U.S. companies $176 billion in 2023. But the true cost is harder to measure — lost time, fractured teams, and shaken confidence.

That’s why “Ensure Workplace Safety” is the first of ESFM’s company pillars. It’s not just a statement. It’s a standard.

Culture Before Compliance

According to Jerry Aldridge, a safety director who supports teams across an an oil and gas client portfolio, success in maintaining safe work environments starts with how you treat your team members.

It’s a strategy rooted in connection. He’s seen how recognition, consistency, and personal engagement lead to stronger buy-in.

“The more you communicate with compassion, trust, and respect and show employees you think of them as a person first, then the more they feel like they belong. They think, ‘I’m cared about. I’m valued. I’m listened to,’” Aldridge said. “And when it comes to new procedures or processes, they immediately jump on board. They have a sense of ownership, pride and respect.”

Safety is a Shared Language

For Jermaine Washington, regional vice president for a food manufacturing client, the key is consistency and doing the right things over-and-over.

“Safety goes beyond the four walls of your facility,” said Jermaine Washington, regional vice president. “If you understand that then it becomes a culture that permeates from the top down and communicates that you do care.”

Washington empowers his teams to own safety wins and speak up about what’s working. That peer-to-peer culture helps extend safety beyond a checklist and into the rhythm of everyday operations.

Everyone, Everywhere, Every Role

Safety isn’t confined to one department. ESFM’s Safety Champions are made up of people from different roles across operations who are united by one goal: helping people stay safe and aware of their settings and behaviors.

Safety Manager Joyce Martinez works closely with the Safety Champions who guide the team supporting a life sciences client. Their approach centers around the “good catch” program, which encourages team members to proactively identify, report and resolve hazards before incident occur.

“Together, we observe opportunities, identify risk, investigate and evaluate, and resolve the situation,” Martinez said.

Programs like this work: OSHA data shows that proactive hazard identification can reduce serious injury risk by up to 90%.

Learning Happens Laterally, Not Just Top-Down

Resident regional manager Lorenzo Macias believes strong teams aren’t built in isolation. His group, supporting a large technology client, meets regularly to review performance metrics and share ideas.

“Continuous improvement is a process of gathering data, measuring, and adjusting based on what the data is telling you,” he said.

For Macias, it’s not about competition, but continuous improvement, driven by humility and curiosity.

“I know I can reach out to a colleague in another region who may be doing well in a certain area and say, ‘Hey, I want to learn from what you are doing so that we can improve,’” Macias said. “They are always more than willing to help. I find that very valuable.”