Over the last few years, Bahnson Mechanical Systems (BMS) has tremendously improved their safety programs and culture, earning them an EMCOR Group 2019 Safety Excellence Award.
BMS completely updated its standing operating procedures for safety, and senior leadership double-downed on their commitment to building a robust safety culture. Increased safety training and education was an essential component of this effort.
Over three years, BMS conducted 290 training courses accounting for 6,200 hours of instruction in everything from OSHA and NFPA standards to fall protection and general safety. In 2019, they placed special emphasis on hands-on demonstrations to help ensure team members could demonstrate safety competency.
The safety committee at BMS was also revitalized, setting new goals around improving culture, communication, and engaging the entire workforce. The committee has active representatives from each department who meet monthly to review programs and procedures at each of BMS’s four fixed facilities. Monthly “Safety First” huddles—attended by senior management and safety leadership—recognize employees that have helped improve their team’s safety posture. On jobsites, daily Job Safety Assessments stress that every employee should feel empowered to speak up about unsafe conditions or hazardous situations.
When working with clients and other contractors, BMS emphasizes planning and early engagement, with safety as a standard topic. On major projects, their Safety Officer conducts site visits a minimum of every two weeks and engages with client’s safety representatives. This proactive, collaborative approach has encouraged a number of BMS’s long-standing clients to adopt new safety practices for things like fall protection and leading-edge roof projects.
BMS’s efforts to reinvigorate their safety program have helped them create a positive “all in” environment that drives continuous safety improvement—an exemplary model for the entire industry.
Average number of employees, 2019: 108
Average number of employees, 2018: 129
Percent of self-performed hours worked, 2019: 80%
Percent of self-performed hours worked, 2018: 70%
Total employee hours worked, 2019: 240,084
Total employee hours worked, 2018: 258,147
Recordable incidence rate, 2019: 0
Recordable incidence rate, 2018: 0.77
DART rate, 2019: 0
DART rate, 2018: 0.77