Dawn Baker-McTighe, George Himler, John Russo

When an unfortunate, unforeseeable incident took place, these leaders didn’t hesitate to take action. They made sure their reaction was professional, appropriate and in the best interest of everyone concerned: all employees at their location, EMS, law enforcement, the truck driver’s company and any others who were affected.

They say life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. Sometimes things happen at the workplace that cause stress.

It’s important that we handle these events in the best, most appropriate way possible. That was the case this spring when a non-Olympic Steel truck driver passed away unexpectedly. He was in the cab of his vehicle inside an Olympic Steel facility in Cleveland, OH.

When this happened, leaders Dawn Baker-McTighe, George Himler and John Russo showed poise under pressure and sprang into action. They called 911 and demonstrated nothing but professionalism when interacting with local law enforcement, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and medical examiners. And, maybe most importantly, they addressed employee concerns during and after this unfortunate situation. They made sure resources were available so employees could emotionally process what happened on that not-so-typical day.

Lesson Learned: When an unfortunate, unforeseeable incident took place, these leaders didn’t hesitate to take action. They made sure their reaction was professional, appropriate and in the best interest of everyone concerned: all employees at their location, EMS, law enforcement, the truck driver’s company and any others who were affected.