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ATLANTA – The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Georgia recently honored the winners of its annual safety awards.

Recipients of ABC’s 2015 National STEP and Georgia Awards of Safety Excellence were recognized on June 8, 2015, at Maggiano’s Little Italy, Cumberland Mall. ABC of Georgia Safety Forum chair Ryan Little, Balfour Beatty Construction, served as host, with chapter chairman Phil Greeves, JAMCo, Inc., Bob Cauthen, representing ABC National Safety Excellence Award sponsor C N A, and chapter President & CEO Bill Anderson taking part in the proceedings. Tim Gelbar, president of Amec Foster Wheeler Power & Process Americas business, delivered the keynote address.

“Jobsite safety isn’t just about the numbers,” Little remarked as he opened the awards ceremony. “It’s about every one of us staying safe on our jobs so that we can go home to our families every night.”

The association’s safety awards are presented annually to ABC of Georgia general- and specialty-contractor members that have low rates of on-the-job injuries and who have demonstrated the highest commitment to safety and safety training.

In his keynote speech, Tim Gelbar described Amec Foster Wheeler’s philosophy on safety. “Doing the right thing is one of our core values and we put safety first. No matter how safe we are and how many awards we receive, we’re never good enough,” Gelbar remarked. “We continuously look for ways to improve our safety performance,” he said.

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, a national ABC program, is a tool designed to objectively evaluate safety programs, policies, procedures and training.

This year the Georgia Chapter presented a total of 60 STEP awards, 22 of those in the Platinum category as well as 15 at the Diamond level, the highest STEP level achievable. 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). Thirteen Gold and 10 Silver awards also were presented.
Winners of the Georgia Safety Awards of Excellence are determined by calculating a company’s DART (days away, restricted or transferred) and LT (lost time) rates. To achieve the award, companies must have had no employee fatalities, with DART and LT rates at least half the national average for their trade. Thirty-six ABC member companies earned this award.

The event was sponsored by C N A; C&C Fence; CLP Resources, Inc. ; ESC Safety Consultants, Inc. ; Flint Equipment Company; Fly & Form, Inc. ; Fortune-Johnson General Contractors; JAMCo, Inc. ; Juneau Construction Company, LLC; MetroPower, Inc. ; Pattillo Construction Corporation; SkyeTec; and Summit Industrial Construction, LLC.

ABC of Georgia represents nearly 300 of Georgia’s commercial and industrial contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and service firms, representing more than 2,500 employees. ABC supports the merit shop philosophy of construction that emphasizes free enterprise and open competition. The statewide organization is one of 70
chapters of the Associated Builders and Contractors in Washington, D.C., with nearly 21,000 member companies across the country. Learn more at www.abcga.org.

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.