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ATLANTA—Emphasizing that innovation, safety and quality are the ingredients of a successful construction project, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Georgia recently honored the winners of its biannual Excellence in Construction (EIC) competition as well as its annual Safety award program.
Winners of ABC of Georgia’s 2016 Excellence in Construction (EIC) awards competition, along with recipients of ABC’s annual Safety awards, were recognized on July 20, 2016, at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia chapter chairman, Jeff Toebe, McCarthy Building Companies, along with ABC of Georgia’s Safety Forum chair, Ryan Little, Balfour Beatty Construction, guest speaker, Katie Leonard, BDR Partners, LLC, and ABC of Georgia’s President and CEO, Bill Anderson took part in the proceedings.
“The Excellence in Construction program showcases the most outstanding projects built by ABC of Georgia members,” said Bill Anderson. “It demonstrates how cooperation among the entire construction team results in the most successful projects.”
The EIC program highlights the innovation, quality and vision of a project’s entire construction team— general and specialty contractors, architects, engineers, owners and others. Entries were evaluated on criteria such as complexity, attractiveness, safety, unusual challenges, completion time, workmanship, innovation and budget. Awards of Excellence were given to the projects receiving the highest ratings in several specialty contracting and general contracting areas, including electrical, mechanical, renovation, commercial and industrial. Awards of Merit were also presented.
The association’s Safety awards are presented annually to Georgia contractors who have had low rates of on-the-job injuries and who have demonstrated the highest commitment to safety and safety training.
ABC’s Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) awards recognize member companies who employ effective safety practices on their jobsites, based on 20 key elements of contractor safety programs such as management commitment, pre-planning for safety on jobsites, safety training and resources committed to safety. The STEP process, which was developed and written by contractors for contractors, is a tool designed to objectively evaluate safety programs, policies, procedures and training.
ABC Safety Forum Chair, Ryan Little, Director of Health and Safety at Balfour Beatty Construction, emphasized that STEP participants consistently out-perform the National BLS averages for fatalities,injuries and lost time. “An analysis of STEP performance recently published by ABC shows that STEP companies are up to 720% safer than non-STEP companies,” Little said. “Including total recordable incident rates as much as 86% lower.” ABC of Georgia chairman, Jeff Toebe, stated that the Georgia chapter has some of the best STEP participation in Region 4 and across the country.
This year the Georgia Chapter presented 20 Platinum-level awards as well as 22 in the Diamond Level, the highest STEP level achievable—more than doubling the number of top awards since last year. Diamond- level winners must have an incidence rate at least 50% below the national Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) average in their particular NAICS code for at least three consecutive years and have an EMR (or “mod factor”) at or below 0.700 (0.800 for companies with fewer than 100 employees). Eighteen Gold, seven Silver awards and one Bronze also were presented.
Winners of the Georgia Safety Awards of Excellence are determined using a company’s lost time and DART rates. To achieve this award, companies must have had no employee fatalities, with lost time DART rates half the national average or less. Twenty-seven ABC member companies earned this award.
About Winter: Winter is a privately owned and operated Atlanta based general contracting company. We provide construction management services to clients in the hospitality, retail, government, higher education, K-12, corporate/office, religious, senior living, and multi-family markets in the Southeast. For more information visit: winter-construction.com.
