Safety Follows Wisdom: Monuments stand as reminders to CEMEX employees about importance of safety

December 15, 2017

Historic stone monuments that were originally awarded by the Portland Cement Association for exemplary safety performance stand outside nearly all of CEMEX USA’s cement plants, serving as a visual reminder to employees daily about the importance of safety.    

The monuments, which were awarded by PCA starting in the 1920s, are positioned in highly visible areas at nearly all of CEMEX’s active U.S. cement plants.   PCA began awarding the monuments with large plaques as permanent trophies to plants that achieved low numbers of lost-time incidents.    The monuments were created after a design competition was held, and the winner was a small team of artists from the Art Institute of Chicago working under the guidance of well-known sculptor, Albin Polasek. 

PCA presented the monuments as awards to encourage facilities across the cement industry to become safer, imploring plants to reduce human loss due to avoidable accidents.  Historic PCA safety bulletins reminded workers to commit to safety with the message, “Wisdom and thoughtfulness stand between you and safety,” and, “You are the master of your destiny and the safe performance of your work depends on the care you take.”

“The monuments are visual symbols of the historical importance of safety,” said Dr. Hugo Bolio, CEMEX USA Executive Vice President, Cement Operations & Technology said. “We are proud to display them as we work to continuously improve safety procedures at our plants.”

“The safety of our employees, contractors and visitors is our primary concern at all CEMEX operations,” said Alan MacVicar, CEMEX USA Vice President of Health & Safety. “The monuments are long-standing reminders of that responsibility.”

CEMEX USA continues to promote safety at our operations by holding its annual Safety Week, encouraging employee participation in daily safety meetings at all facilities and regular safety stand-downs.