Construction safety is a daily practice, not a milestone, and this distinction shapes everything about how we interact, make decisions, and prioritize each other. Across our North American operations, we weave these commitments into our work, bringing the Safety & Health principle of Our VC Way to life in every plant, site, and office.
Safety and Health is the first value of Our VC Way, and it carries a clear commitment: people’s safety comes before results, without exception. Not when conditions are ideal, not when timelines are forgiving, but always. A standard like this holds on plant floors, at aggregate sites, in ready-mixed concrete yards, and in every office across our North American operations. It is what we mean when we say construction safety is not a priority that competes with other priorities, but it is the foundation on which everything else is built.
In 2025, our teams conducted more than 75,000 risk evaluations, completed over 8,000 safety talks, issued more than 2,000 safety alerts, and carried out nearly 20,000 work observations and 18,000 inspections. These are not outputs of a compliance program; they are the output of a culture where Acting with Ownership means you do not wait for someone else to identify a hazard, and where Open Dialogue means you raise a concern even when it is inconvenient.
The 2025 VCNA Safety Leadership Conference brought together more than 100 frontline and executive leaders alongside external experts, including a globally recognized consultant on safety culture and organizational performance and a speaker from DEKRA, who led a workshop on serious injury and fatality prevention. Safety awards were presented, and panel discussions covered both what is working and where improvement is still needed. Learn and Evolve applies to construction safety as much as anywhere else in our organization.
Construction safety extends beyond the physical hazards of a job site. Safety and Health as a value includes the mental, nutritional, and emotional well-being of our people, because a person who is struggling in any of those areas is not fully protected.
Our wellness programs are designed to meet people where they are. On-site wellness clinics offer biometric screenings, blood pressure and glucose assessments, flu vaccinations, and body composition checks. In Bridgeview, a single Wellness Day delivered 35 flu shots, 75 screenings, and 45 massage sessions. In Toronto, the same day included a smoothie bar, a nutritionist kiosk, and an Employee Assistance Program mental health booth. These actions are part of a deliberate effort to make wellness accessible to the people who build and operate some of North America’s most demanding industrial sites.
In 2025, 472 employees participated in a 30-day movement challenge, collectively logging 147.6 million steps and covering more than 885,000 kilometres. That is the equivalent of circling the Earth 22 times! Teams also participated in the Canadian Cancer Society’s CIBC Run for the Cure, breast cancer walks and raffles across the United States and Canada that raised $1,972, Heart Month donations supporting cardiovascular health in Bridgeview, and a HYROX Fitness Challenge that brought people together around physical health in a different kind of setting.
VCNA’s health priorities reflect the same honest assessment that drives our construction safety culture: look at what the data and the people are telling you, and respond directly. Mental health has been identified as a primary focus. We are expanding benefits to better meet employee mental health needs, launching mental health training for leaders and supervisors, and introducing a speaker series at plants covering stress management, nutrition, and healthy habits. Beyond these initiatives, benefits are always being optimized to help people live their healthiest lives.
Quarterly wellness challenges will address physical, mental, and nutritional health in rotation. A Musculoskeletal Stretch Project, developed in partnership with DEFY and our safety team, is piloting simple exercise plans specifically designed for ready-mixed concrete employees, addressing one of the most common categories of physical strain in the industry. A Plant Roadshow will bring Employee Assistance Program resources, benefits education, and wellness support directly to sites.
This is what it looks like when an organization treats construction safety and health as a continuous discipline rather than an annual initiative.
