BATON ROUGE, La., May 31–Brown & Root Industrial Services, LLC. today announced that it hosted more than 250 local and national corporate and site employees for the 2022 Leadership Meeting and Safety Summit at the Renaissance Baton Rouge Hotel May 11-12 as part of a continued commitment to develop company leaders and provide a formal forum for innovation and collaboration.
The gathering featured speakers from Brown & Root departments including operations, health, safety and environment, human resources, workforce development, quality, maintenance, IT & shared services, proposals, procurement and legal, as well as safety and business community leaders from across the country.
Andy Dupuy, Brown & Root chief executive officer, announced that recently Brown & Root achieved Diamond in Associated Builders and Contractor’s STEP Safety Management System and earned a National Safety Pinnacle Award from Associated Builders and Contractors. As a recognized leader in safety and total human health, Brown & Root prioritizes investing resources in promoting collaboration and employee development to continue to achieve a world-class safety program.
“The leadership and safety discussions, collaboration and engagement that occurred amongst attendees were some of the most thought-provoking and productive I have witnessed,” said Jerry Redden, Brown & Root vice president of HSE.
One of the highlights of the event was an interactive presentation by Zach Thomason, Brown & Root director of HSE for specialty services and turnarounds. Those in attendance worked in teams to complete “The Marshmallow Challenge,” invented by Peter Skillman and popularized by Tom Wujec’s TED Talk. Adam Porter, Brown & Root HSE manager, took away from the activity exactly what Thomason had intended.
“The Marshmallow Challenge was a great team building experience that reminded us the importance of open communication,” said Porter. “During the challenge you can steadily see your spaghetti structure’s strengths and weaknesses. These challenges create adversity that forces team collaboration and innovation.”
Leadership advancement and honed safety acumen were not the only advancements made during the Summit. Employees and sponsors joined together to raise more than $40,000 for the company’s non-profit organization, the Brown & Root Foundation during the two-day event.
Jonathan Batarseh, Brown & Root chief financial officer, spoke about the foundation and why the company has made a priority to give back to the communities where employees live and work.
“There are children right down the road from us at this moment that don’t know where their next meal is going to come from,” said Batarseh. “We have a responsibility to do something about that. We build incredible things here at Brown & Root and we are building better communities through the Brown & Root Foundation.”
As the summit wrapped up, Fred McManus, Brown & Root chief operating officer, charged attendees with a mission.
“Walk away from this summit with a plan on how to better lead your people, to encourage them to choose safety first daily, to inspire them and to show them a new and better way to do things,” said McManus. “Go back and lead, don’t just hold a leadership title.”
The 2022 Leadership Meeting and Safety Summit was sponsored by United Rentals, Linde, Magid, DeWALT and Gallagher.
Andy Dupuy, chief executive officer, was enthusiastic about the outcome of the event. “I believe the summit was a huge success, particularly in regard to raising funds for the foundation and taking away new insights from presenters,” said Dupuy. The biggest achievement according to Dupuy though: team building.
Photos from the event can be found below:
