It was about more than a barbecue lunch during O’Connell Electric Company’s Sixth Annual Safety Picnic on July 27. Instead, there was an emphasis on how to keep its employees’ family and friends, clients and vendors safe.

About 800 of O'Connell Electric Company's employees and their families, clients and vendors attended the event, which was held at the Pinnacle Athletic Campus. It not only featured food and fun, but also safety demonstrations from Admar Supply, DeWalt, DiVal Safety Equipment, Hilti, Klein Tools and Vertex Solutions.

“Safety is not just one of our core values at O’Connell, it’s embedded into everything our employees do, every day, at home or work,” said Joe Leggo, Principal of O’Connell Electric Company. “We are committed to our role as a leader for advancing safety practices at job sites and the culture within the electrical industry as a whole.”

The Safety Picnic came to be after a company safety meeting in 2013, when someone had suggested creating a tradeshow-style safety event, combined with a picnic.

The picnic also featured a variety of guest speakers from National Grid, IBEW Local Unions, and the American Heart Association. It also included an address by Monroe County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo, who spoke about O’Connell Electric Company’s positive impact on the county, and Monroe County Public Health Commissioner Michael Menodoza, who discussed the opioid epidemic.

It also featured presentations from Brad and Dolores Gardner, who shared the chilling story of Brad losing his arm in a near-death industrial accident. Brad’s story highlighted how quickly situations can escalate due to a lack of workplace safety and situational awareness, reminding all attendees of the critical need for safe work practices.

“The unbelievable amount of time, money and resources that go into hosting our annual picnics has been well worth our efforts,” Leggo said. “Employees are more engaged with our safety programs, collaborate more on job sites, and even motivate our customers and subcontractors to work more safely. And, as far as O’Connell Electric Company is concerned, you just can’t put a price on that.”