^{May 6, 2025} Going Back to Basics: The Importance of Refresher Training for Safety Success

Slips, trips and falls. Hand and finger injuries. Struck by or caught between incidents. Vehicle accidents. These are just a few of the common types of incidents across the construction industry at large and can occur even among the safest of companies.

Several years ago, MYR Group’s safety leadership recognized this phenomenon.

They sought to reduce these common incidents by developing a refresher training program called Back to Basics. The goal of the training program is to better prepare our craft employees so they are well equipped to conduct work safely and reduce their chances of errors.

“I would describe Back to Basics as an effort to consistently deliver refresher training to our workforce across the entire spectrum of craft workers – from superintendents to first-step apprentices,” MYR Group’s Director of Safety Training Stephen Foster said. It also supports the safety department’s mission which includes delivering industry leading safety performance.

Field employees come in qualified and trained, often with specialized knowledge and extensive training, but they are still humans who can make mistakes – making refresher training an important element of our overall safety program.

Group Vice President Danny Gessman has supported the Back to Basics program from multiple leadership positions within MYR Group and considers it an important “investment” in our people and their safety.

“We are a mobile workforce, which means there are always new people among the ranks. We can’t assume people came up in the trade and are instilled with the same safety culture we have,” Gessman said.

District Manager Jeremy Miller of The L.E. Myers Co. finds it very beneficial for his crews because the customizable content is very relevant to their daily work.

“It’s taking that extra step to make sure the crews get the training that they need and to ensure we are not just being reactive, but also proactive,” Miller said.

“The field employees stay engaged, they want to hear more. At the end of every training they are excited and want to know what we will cover next.”

District Manager Jeremy Miller

The Evolution of Back to Basics

When the program first started, the safety department identified a few common injury types, prepared training on those topics, and each MYR Group company providing transmission and distribution electrical construction services held an annual day of Back to Basics safety training focused on those subjects.

Over time the program’s content expanded considerably and by 2024, the training program was rolled out across the MYR Group organization. MYR Group subsidiaries providing commercial and industrial electrical construction, including our corporate fleet teams, saw the value of the training and were anxious to adopt the Back to Basics training.

The company also developed a robust observation program where the safety professionals visit jobs sites to see how work is being performed. Then they discuss their observations to identify trends, areas for improvement, and training gaps to address through various safety training programs, including Back to Basics.

Developing a program that suits a wide variety of training needs for crews performing a range of services from transmission and distribution, to commercial and industrial, led to a robust program, with various sub-topics. And Foster said deciding which topics to include in the program wasn’t always easy.

“We sometimes have to stop and say ‘wait, this is Back to Basics. This is refresher training for people who have been trained, to refresh their knowledge and skills because as humans we have a lot on our plates,’” Foster explained.

The format has also changed to better fit the needs of operations teams with a menu-style customization. While some core topics are mandatory, local leadership can also choose from a list of available training courses to strategically select topics that best fit needs they have identified through the course of their work.

“The field employees stay engaged, they want to hear more,” Miller said of his employees’ experience with Back to Basics. “At the end of every training they are excited and want to know what we will cover next.”

The Importance of Leadership Involvement

MYR Group and its subsidiaries are committed to remaining industry safety leaders and this success requires commitment and continued support from all levels within the organization – especially all levels of leadership.

From top to bottom, the program has continued support from MYR Group leaders.

Leadership involvement is just as vital to an effective refresher training program like Back to Basics as providing relevant, engaging content.

“It simply means more to field crews when a district manager or operations manager is there to help introduce the training, present the content or to answer questions,” Foster explained.

Miller agreed saying, “I think it’s important for me to get in front of the field crews for Back to Basics and let them know this information is important to our success, not just short-term but long-term, and in making sure they get to go home every evening to their families.”

Miller manages a team in Pasadena, Texas with about 260 individuals working in the field providing several scopes of work. The size of that team makes it difficult for everyone to stop work at the same time for a Back to Basics training day, so they usually meet in multiple, smaller training groups, but Miller still tries to ensure he is there for each and every one of his employees’ Back to Basics training.

All of this ultimately benefits the customers we serve by providing them with a qualified, well-trained workforce focused on performing their work safely.

“I think our customers see that when it comes to safety, we have a structure. We’re not just checking a box and saying we’ve done it. We are continuously focusing on the basics of safety, and when a gap or trend is identified, we go back to refresher training again. And we have an avenue to address it across the entire organization,” Gessman said. “Generally, a safe job is a productive job and a quality job. All around, projects are better when they are done safely.”