Integrated landscape services firm ValleyCrest Landscape Cos. celebrated its 2013 National Safety Awareness Day by rewarding four of its many safe employees with new trucks. The presentation of the trucks was a featured part of safety events held across the country, where more than 10,500 employees gathered to recognize superior performance in workplace safety.

Over the past 11 years, the company has awarded 55 new trucks. The company says its annual giveaway reinforces its deep commitment to workplace safety by encouraging employees to perform throughout the year accident free.

To qualify for the giveaway, full-time field employees must complete one-year of service with no accidents and be employed by a branch that meets or exceeds the company’s threshold safety standards. This year, 3,400 employees across four different U.S. safety regions were eligible.

The four new truck winners for 2013 are:

• Carlos Bolainez, an equipment operator in the Golf Course Maintenance Division in Anaheim Hills, Calif., who has been with the company 8 years;
• Juan Lozano Vega, an irrigation technician in the Maintenance Division at the Denver South branch in Parker, Colo., who has been with the company 3 years;
• Alejandro Velez, a gardener in the Maintenance Division at the Lake Buena Vista branch in Orlando, Fla., who has been with the company 6 years; and
• Irais Hernandez Delfin, a crew leader in the Maintenance Division at the North Port branch in Englewood, Fla., who has been with the company 5 years.

ValleyCrest says safety is a significant component of its training program. In 2013, the company was ranked 98 on Training Magazine’s Top 125 companies for training, an annual ranking that honors organizations around the world that offer outstanding employer-sponsored workforce training and development.

The company said its employees must follow a stringent safety program in order to meet the challenges faced every day on thousands of customer’s job sites across the country. Its aggressive and proactive safety training initiatives include a new-hire safety orientation, monthly training sessions for all supervisory field management, weekly safety conference calls, safety training compliance, a toll-free safety hotline and weekly tailgate meetings. In addition, the company offers quarterly safety incentives for safe work habits culminating in this annual truck giveaway – a tradition that despite a challenging economy continues to reward deserving individuals for their role in ValleyCrest’s safety successes.