Corps construction contractor reaches critical safety milestone

Published July 2, 2013
Representatives of USACE Headquarters, USACE Baltimore District, AKHI Construction, TMG Construction and Ahtna Engineering celebrate important safety milestone during construction at the Fort Belvoir New Campus East.

Representatives of USACE Headquarters, USACE Baltimore District, AKHI Construction, TMG Construction and Ahtna Engineering celebrate important safety milestone during construction at the Fort Belvoir New Campus East.

Baltimore District Engineer Col. Trey Jordan addresses contractors and safety professionals at the partners in safety celebration, following contractor achievement of 1,000,000 hours without a lost work time accident or injury.

Baltimore District Engineer Col. Trey Jordan addresses contractors and safety professionals at the partners in safety celebration, following contractor achievement of 1,000,000 hours without a lost work time accident or injury.

Contractors for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency New Campus East (NGA-NCE) project, along with the Baltimore District, were recognized June 11 for reaching 1,400 days without an accident resulting in lost work time.

“This is an outstanding achievement that speaks highly of the safety culture of both our contractor teammates here at the NGA project as well as our U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) leadership that are committed to keeping our entire team healthy and safe,” said Richard Wright, USACE Headquarters’ chief of safety and health.

TMG has been involved with NGA-NCE construction since the beginning of the project. Working with subcontractors, they ensured the safe environment of their employees during construction of a field office, and on a variety of gas, IT, electrical, sewer and power contracts. Company-wide, TMG has reached one million hours without an accident resulting in lost work time across their entire portfolio.

“I strongly believe that these achievements are the result of a work culture based on hard work and commitment to teamwork, training, communication, personal ownership, and continuous improvement,” said Ed DeNeale, director of safety and health at TMG Construction Corporation.

Part way through the construction, TMG partnered with another small firm – Ahtna Engineering Services – to form a joint venture around their shared values. The venture, called AKHI Construction, has completed additional work focusing on the project’s infrastructure, including roads, a water tower and critical utilities installation. AKHI worked 1,400 days – and counting – without a lost time accident.

“Today was a rare opportunity to celebrate with our partners as they mark a significant achievement as the result of the successful management of their safety program,” said Patrick Morris, acting chief of Baltimore District’s safety and occupational health office. “Achieving 1,000,000 hours/1,400 days without a lost work time accident is noteworthy, especially in the construction industry, where hazards are common, not routine and change daily.”

Workers across the construction industry are exposed to occupational risks on a daily basis. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, there were 738 deaths in the private sector in 2011, over 50 percent of which were attributed to just four causes.

“We need to commit ourselves to plan and to engineer out unsafe conditions,” said Joseph Matthews, TMG principal.

Another critical component of TMG’s success was their ability and willingness to partner with the Baltimore District.

“From USACE's perspective, communicating the safety message and enforcement of safety and health requirements, is always a challenge,” said Morris. “This challenge is lessened when we have willing partners like TMG and AKHI that value safety and health as much as we do. When we work safely as a team, we all benefit and are better able to focus on delivering a quality product to our customers on time and within budget.”

For more information on the Corps’ work on Fort Belvoir, visit: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Missions/MilitaryPrograms.aspx
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Julia Battocchi

Release no. 13-049