NMAPC: Saluting Safety Success in a Dangerous Environment, an Industrial Info News Alert.

WASHINGTON -- Even by today's measure, nine million of anything is still a lot. And when construction workers, performing their skills in some of the most dangerous work environments in the world, can achieve nine million work hours without a recordable injury, it is truly a remarkable feat. Consider these numbers in a world where on the job injuries cost Americans more than $156 billion a year in lost wages, medical bills, employer costs, and property damage. That's why recognizing safety is important not only in regards to the workers' well being, but in financial terms as well.

Such was the backdrop for the Sixth Annual Zero Injury Safety Awards sponsored by the National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee (NMAPC). Three Silver Award Winners, four Bronze, and forty-five Merit Awards were bestowed upon owner, contractor and Building Trades representatives at a recent gala dinner at the historic Union Station in downtown Washington, D.C.

The award, one of the elite honors in the construction and maintenance industry, celebrates the phenomenal zero-injury results that can occur when owner, contractor, and labor all put safety at the top of their lists. Taking home two Silver Star Awards this year was Cherne Contracting Corporation (Eden Prairie, Minnesota), which totaled more than 1.5 million hours of injury free work between Eastern Kentucky Power Cooperative's Spurlock Station in Maysville, Kentucky, and Sunoco's Eagle Point Refinery in Westville, New Jersey. The Central Kentucky Building Trades Council and the United/Southern New Jersey Building Trades Council provided the skilled craftsmen on each job, respectively.

Also receiving a Silver Star was Superior Construction Company (Gary, Indiana), working with BP Products North America at the Whiting Refinery in Whiting, Indiana. Northwestern Indiana Building Trades Council performed the work.

"We are very appreciative the NMAPC conducts this event to recognize safety in the construction industry, because it's through that recognition that I think inspires contractors to move to the next level," said Bill Cherne, President & CEO of Cherne Contracting. "If you can't perform safely on a construction project, than you haven't performed very well."

Accepting the Silver Star for the Eastern Kentucky Power Cooperative was Sam Holloway. "It is a culture that takes the cooperation of the employees in the construction business, the owner and the contractor," Holloway said. "It's a three pronged attack, and if everyone's not doing their fair share, it's not successful."

Steve Lindauer, Impartial Secretary & CEO of the NMAPC agreed, saying where owner, contractor and labor are concerned, instilling a culture of safety is "a win-win-win situation." Statistics back Lindauer up. Research conducted by the Construction Industry Institute indicates the more owners are involved in safety, the safer and more profitable their jobs are. Lindauer says as more owners follow this philosophy, the more appealing working with the NMAPC becomes. "We don't just talk the talk where safety is concerned, we walk the walk, and we're about to see those dividends pay off in even more future work opportunities," Lindauer said.

The National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee administers the National Maintenance Agreement (NMA). The NMA is a labor-management system involving one set of rules making available the expertise of 3,000 contractors and 14 different building trades to owners in the construction and maintenance industries.

For more information, contact Kevin Hilton at [e-mail] or call 703-841-9707.

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