Category Winners: Build Washington Awards for Safety Excellence
Aecon Buildings Inc. (Construction Manager under 100000 Hours)
At Aecon Buildings Inc. safety starts at the top – which means it started at the bottom. George Kramer Aecons President began as a laborer and knows the importance of workers going home to their families in the same condition as they arrived on site. Everything the company does reinforces this message. Aecon superintendents perform safety inspections daily and project managers and engineers perform weekly site inspections. Aecons Safety Manager conducts weekly audits of the site inspections with documentation to ensure compliance. Aecon’s inspection policy has produced significant improvements in hazard recognition by focusing the team on a common goal. AGC Safety Team member Aecon achieved a perfect year in 2010 – no recordable injuries – its second perfect record in three years. Aecon’s last time loss accident was October 24 2001 a testament to the dedication of Aecon’s workers supervisors and management.
Centennial Contractors Enterprises Inc. (Construction Manager over 100000 Hours)
Centennial Contractors Enterprises Inc. realizes that a trained work force is instrumental in achieving safe job sites. AGC Safety Team member Centennial provides free of charge OSHA-10 and 30 courses to its subcontractors customers and employees. Centennial is one of the few companies that has established a formal Alliance with OSHA. This Alliance gives Centennial the opportunity to promote safety within the construction industry and educate construction workers on jobsite safety. Centennial is currently working with Region X OSHA on a best practice working group to develop online collaboration tools and simulation training to improve the presentation and attendance of OSHA-10/30 hour construction training. These processes are centered on improving safety within the construction industry by making future safety training easily accessible and engaging. Centennial conducts annual safety workshops throughout the country to provide education consistency and networking opportunities within Centennial’s safety community.
Wade Perrow Construction LLC (General Contractor under 150000 Hours)
In 2010 Wade Perrow Construction achieved an EMR of .60 the lowest possible rating for the number of reported worker hours. And with industry safety measures placing WPC in the top two percent of all general contractors in Washington State WPC ended the year with zero recordable accidents. These impressive numbers are due to the dedication of WPC management and field staff. WPC’s safety ethic is relentlessly promoted and repeated among all members of the company and safety holds the first position in its corporate mission statement. The ownership of and responsibility for safety is shared among every person on the jobsite. AGC Safety Team member WPC takes the initiative to invite Department of Labor and Industries’ personnel onto its sites to promote safety awareness and show WPC’s commitment to the safety and health of its employees and subcontractors. Among WPC’s unconventional efforts to promote safety was its participation in AGC’s 2010 Safety Photo Contest – which it won! WPC was also honored as Most Improved General Contractor for its quantitative improvements.
BNBuilders Inc. (General Contractor 150000-300000 Hours)
BNBuilders Inc.’s safety program leverages the most up-to-date technology. Among the high-tech elements of its program are clicksafety.com which BNB uses to provide specific online training to workers and subcontractors. All BNB management – including its owners – has completed OSHA 30 or 10 hour classes and subs are required to take the same training on clicksafety.com. On some projects BNB implemented an online safety audit using the Vela iPad to keep all the project records on the jobsite. The software records the safety inspection and notifies each sub of any violation. AGC Safety Team member BNB is also using BIM to create plans for fall protection first aid and fire extinguisher stations and maps of emergency routes. Plus BNB uses a HookCam a camera installed above a tower crane hook to give the crane operator a clear view of the load and rigging.
Absher Construction Company (General Contractor 300000-400000 Hours)
Many Absher Construction employees on a job site have been with the company for more than 20 years and are truly members of the family. Safety is extremely personal at Absher and management and employees watch out for each other at all levels. Ownership has made safety a top priority in terms of personal commitment as well as funding. AGC Safety Team member Absher is self-insured and sees the direct economic result of every injury and dollars saved when a project is safe. This adds a financial incentive to the moral imperative for the company ownership to invest heavily in prevention and a culture of safety excellence. Executive inspections are performed by division leadership and company owners at least monthly to reinforce good safety efforts and to identify and correct concerns. This sends a clear message and reminder of management’s personal commitment to the safety of each individual working on Absher projects.
Kiewit Infrastructures West Co. (General Contractor over 400000 Hours)
With a safety index four times better than the industry average it is obvious that Kiewit Infrastructure West Co. is committed to safety excellence. AGC Safety Team member Kiewit implements a “5 Key Elements” program to insure safety success. This includes preparing a good hazard analysis; ensuring the hazard analysis is followed in the field; holding people accountable for their actions; being involved in watching the work; and reporting and investigating incidents. Immersion in Kiewit’s strong safety culture begins on day one of the job. Its safety orientation process is tailored to project-specific risks and this process involves open communication and coaching between the new employee and the business manager safety manager superintendent foreman and crew. Kiewit’s objective is to instill a culture in each and every employee that they are the most important asset to the company that their safety and well being are paramount.
Andgar Corporation (Subcontractor 150000-300000 Hours)
Employees know Andgar Corporation’s management team is committed to having all employees go home every day without injury and return the next day. The first paragraph in the Andgar Mission Statement is for management to instill a deeper commitment to safety through personal awareness and set the standard for safety in the industry. Andgar’s employee-driven safety committee is very proactive tackling issues and spotting trends. Near-misses are brought up and dissected which enables the company to act on problems before an accident occurs. Andgar’s commitment to be a leader in safety allows the general contractors it works for to know that Andgar employees on the job site are doing the right things in safety. AGC Safety Team member Andgar recently achieved a stretch of 533 days without a recordable accident.
University Mechanical Contractors Inc. (Subcontractor over 300000 Hours tie)
By all statistical measures University Mechanical Contractors Inc. had an outstanding year for safety. UMC’s OSHA recordable rate was 1.71 compared to a mechanical contractor average of 6.8. Its EMR was .5787 putting UMC in the top one percent of construction companies in Washington State. Its top job included 450 days without a recordable incident. And UMC’s largest project involved more than 260 consecutive days (180000 hours) without a recordable incident. Beyond these outstanding numbers AGC Safety Team member UMC expects and supports safe work. Every employee is empowered to stop unsafe work. By empowering employees to stop unsafe work UMC encourages each individual to “own” safety. This empowerment demonstrates UMC’s respect for each individual and underscores the fact that UMC believes that everyone is ultimately responsible for safety. UMC was also honored as Most Improved Subcontractor for its quantitative improvements.
Veca Electric & Technologies (Subcontractor over 300000 Hours tie)
With field hours increasing by nearly 300 percent in five years Veca Electric and Technologies is dong more work diversifying into new sectors and new geographic areas with many new personnel. Despite the challenges of rapid growth Veca’s safety measures are all improving significantly. One job illustrates Veca’s overall success: At the Silane Refining Facility Veca’s electrical team installed more than five miles of cable tray 50000 feet of medium voltage cable and 25000 feet of PVC-coated RGS conduit. Veca’s instrumentation team installed 150000 feet of cable and 2200 process control instruments. Veca was responsible for the entire control installation and commissioned over 1200 complex control loops. With crews in excess of 200 and a tight schedule this entire project was completed with 440000 hours of field work without a single recordable incident.