Ohana Means Family (and Safety) for Us

Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company is a 114-year-old organization with employees who have been with the company for generations. Our employees, both old and new, are part of the culture here, which is based on caring for employees, family members, and the community as well.

In planning for Safety Week 2015, our employees were asked about the connection between our established company culture of caring and the idea of safety. One employee mentioned the slogan “He ‘Ohana Kakou” (Hawaiian for “We Are One Family”), a phrase that was coined years ago to describe Hawaiian Dredging. As we continued discussing reasons for the importance of safety awareness, we all agreed that this slogan about family was the main reason for aggressively promoting safety, both on job sites and in other aspects of our lives.

At Hawaiian Dredging, Safety Week now is used as a key opportunity to reinforce He ‘Ohana Kakou to our workforce and also to encourage their families to help maintain safety awareness with their loved ones and within the community. As our efforts to promote safety in these areas continues, we are seeing an increased awareness being generated due to this slogan. We see our He ‘Ohana Kakou stickers on laptops, skateboards, helmets, vehicles, and other personal items of employees, their families, and a large circle of acquaintances.

As more people come to recognize and embrace the meaning of He ‘Ohana Kakou, we look forward to long-term growth in safety awareness inside and outside of our workplace for generations to come.