Safety is a workplace topic that’s not always taken seriously. Safety meetings sometimes are perfunctory. Personal protective equipment is worn casually. Regulations honored mostly in the breach. None of that is the rule at McVac Environmental Services.
“Safety has been instilled in them,” says Charles Demers, president and owner. “The training does get repetitive, but our guys buy into safety. They sign up for it. A lot of our guys have been around and have seen bad things happen on job sites. Some of them have terrible stories.”
Consequently, concern for each other’s safety is real.
“We are all here for the family,” Demers says. “The health and wellbeing and safety of each McVac employee is and must remain the No. 1 priority of this company.”
All McVac employees in the field are required to complete seven multiple-hour safety training courses ranging from emergency action plans to first aid. In addition, depending upon an employee’s work assignment, they may have to complete other “operator qualification” coursework in a long lineup of more training modules. Trainers are from a union hall, a product manufacturer or the company’s own health and safety staff.
Demers says field crews are authorized to stop whatever work is in progress whenever a safety issue is recognized.
“If they see something unsafe, we encourage them to stop and deal with it,” he says.
He adds that when personnel from other companies working on a common job site demonstrate their safety awareness, it helps spread the gospel of safety.
“When our guys see other people sign up for safety, it helps them sign up even more,” Demers says.
As a consequence of this awareness, Demers says that McVac has gone “quite a long time” without workplace injury incidents. “And that’s powerful for the guys. They are proud of it.”
Read more about McVac Environmental Services in the November 2025 issue of Cleaner magazine.
