MADISON – Wisconsin Safety Council announced on Thursday that Bassett Mechanical President & CEO Kim Bassett became the newest member of the Wisconsin Safety Hall of Fame. Kim’s leadership has resulted in tremendous improvements in the company’s culture of safety. Once again, Bassett Mechanical won a Corporate Safety Award for their efforts in 2019.

As President & CEO, Kim focuses on developing the company’s short and long-term strategy, managing overall operations, lean oversight, establishing the culture and leading the company to safely achieve its vision. She joined the company in 1996 as a maintenance sales representative, became President and Chief Operating Officer in 2007 and CEO in 2009.

“Kim has been a terrific leader in the safety community for years,” said Aaron Huebner, Wisconsin Safety Council Executive Director. “Both Kim and Bassett Mechanical truly embody what it means to create a culture of safety. Their commitment to employees’ safety at work, home and everywhere else is unparalleled.”

Bassett Mechanical believes it is important to not only track incident rates and other lagging indicators, but it is also to look at leading indicators. To do this, the company has implemented a behavior-based safety program that rewards safe actions and continuous improvement.

“I do many things in my role as President & CEO, but doing my best to keep our associates safe is by far the most important,” said Kim. “We wanted to take safety further by engaging our associates in a partnership to focus attention and actions on daily safety behaviors. ‘Good enough’ is never an option when it comes to the lives of our associates, our customers, and our community.”

The safety and health of employees is not only the top priority in the workplace, but everywhere else, too. Bassett Mechanical requires all company-owned cell phones to have a “do not disturb” function turned on when driving and encourages healthy lifestyles by providing wellness challenges, health club reimbursements, self-funded insurance programs, free weekly fruit delivery and discounts on well-balanced food onsite, among other programs.

“Our associates are not only our greatest asset but also members of our very own Bassett Mechanical Family,” Kim concluded. “I want each of them to go home to their loved ones exactly how they arrived in the morning- safe and healthy.”

The Wisconsin Safety Hall of Fame began in 2001 and identifies a CEO or executive of an organization that has distinguished itself over a period of years for outstanding achievements in workplace and off-the-job safety and health, community service, environmental stewardship and responsible citizenship.

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For more information, please contact:
Nick Novak, 608.239.4866 or nnovak@wmc.org