A Message of Positivity at Mahoning Valley Safety Council Event
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The COVID-19 lockdowns changed people, including the way people interact with each other and the dim way they look at the world, according to Timothy Dimoff, president and CEO of SACS Consulting and Investigative Services Inc.
Dimoff was speaking Wednesday before the Mahoning Valley Safety Council.
“I’ve seen a negative person destroy a whole division with their negative energy,” Dimoff told business professionals in the room.
He urged them to harness the positive people in their company and have a positive outlook themselves to attract positive things to happen.
A retired Akron police officer and ex-narcotics detective, Dimoff’s company started by offering other businesses help in factory worker drug abuse cases, corporate security, anti-violence and identity theft. His team also now offers to help families find loved ones who have fallen victim to human trafficking. Instead of focusing on how difficult or impossible it might be to find that missing person, Dimoff said he chooses to steer his energy toward the belief they will be found.
“You’ve got to think the negative will end,” Dimoff said, “and the positive will replace it.”
He is also a big proponent of writing down goals, even a couple outrageous ones that most likely will not happen. He suggests at the beginning of the year, writing down a couple personal, professional and spiritual goals.
He once wrote down that he would ride on a blimp and have a contract over $1 million, when most of his contracts were closer to $30,000.
It took a few years, but he managed to make both of them happen.
While it is not known if the three companies that were nominated for the 15th annual Joan Kovach Safety Leadership Award focused their positive energy toward winning the recognition, it is apparent each has a commitment toward making sure their employees go home uninjured at the end of their shifts.
Brian Zachetti, industrial safety consultant specialist at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, said the award is given to Mahoning Valley businesses and individuals who have effectively transformed their workplaces from high risk cultures to safety-driven environments supported by their upper management.
Zachetti said all three companies were very deserving and made it difficult for the steering committee to make a decision.
The winner of this year’s Kovach safety award was DeSalvo Construction, which meets biweekly with its field supervision representatives to make certain things on the job sites are not overlooked and are addressed.
Additionally, Zachetti said DeSalvo employees receive extensive safety training and have a safety manual, as well as a 90-day buddy system training for all new employees, so they can learn with someone the potential hazards of a construction worksite.
“Let’s face it, a construction company implementing a safety program is not an easy task,” Zachetti said. “They have an ever changing workplace. Not only that, they have other companies’ employees coming into that workplace that might not be so safety conscious.”
Further, Zachetti said DeSalvo has monthly safety luncheon meetings with all the staff to go over jobsite safety requirements and recently built a training facility at its Hubbard location to provide safety training for employees.
Claudia Kovach, vice president of City Machine Technologies, said with a low incident rate, the secret to DeSalvo’s success starts with the upper management, onsite supervisors at various job sites who must evolve their safety practices around ever changing environments. The Joan Kovach Safety Leadership Award is named in honor of Claudia’s mother.
The other two nominees were Dinesol Plastics, an injection molding facility in Niles, and Compco, the leading tank head manufacturer located in Columbiana.
Josh Sloan serves as the dedicated safety director at Dinesol Plastics, just one of the resources the company’s upper management has utilized to make the company safer. According to Zachetti, in the past five years Dinesol Plastics retrofitted machines so they can be locked out properly, addressing fall protection issues when they are changing dies and improving ergonomics for their employees with the use of robotics.
Zachetti introduced Karen Wright, the safety professional at Compco, who he said is dedicated and enthusiastic about occupational safety at the company. Along with the upper management, the company is committed to improving the safety process, Zachetti said.
“I think what really makes it click for Compco is that they’re really committed to their workforce development,” Zachetti said. “They’re really big into continuing education. They partner with organizations like CCCTC, Eastern Gateway Community College, and they’ve even partnered with companies like FANUC and Allen Bradley through Rockwell Automation to develop solutions, get people professional development to deal with handling safety issues with their equipment.”
Pictured at top: From left, Brian Zachetti, industrial safety consultant specialist at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation; Claudia Kovach, vice president of City Machine Technologies Inc.; Sandra Algoe of DeSalvo Construction; Kim Calvert, senior vice president of marketing and member services at the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber; and Tim Dimoff, president and CEO of SACS Consulting and Investigative Services.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
