Pinnacle Award Befits Haskell’s Remarkable 2021 Safety Performance

Each year, the Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) National Safety Excellence Awards recognize an elite group of the highest-performing companies, stratifying them in three levels. In ascending order, they are the Merit, Excellence and Pinnacle awards.

Haskell received the National Safety Pinnacle Award on Wednesday evening at the ABC Excellence in Construction Gala in San Antonio, Texas, one of only six presented. And while this is not the company’s first such achievement, this year’s designation was particularly fitting given its historic safety accomplishments of the past year.

“This is our pinnacle. It really is,” said Lance Simons, Haskell Vice President of Safety and Quality. “These are world-class numbers in the construction industry. We worked more manhours than we ever have. Our exposure opportunities went up, but we were able to drive our (safety index) numbers down. That's what you want.”

In statistical categories compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, contrasting Haskell with the commercial construction industry dramatically illustrates the magnitude of its success.

In 2021, when Haskell worked a record 3.57 million manhours, team members suffered just three recordable injuries – and only one of those was related to field execution. The company’s Recordable Incident Rate (RIR) of 0.17 stands in stark contrast to the industry average of 2.3. That is to say that across the construction industry, 2.3 people per hundred full-time workers suffered a recordable injury. Haskell’s performance was 13.5 times better.

Similarly, Haskell’s rate of Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) was 0.11, a performance 12 times better than the industry average of 1.3.

“It's a staggering difference and something we always knew we were capable of,” Simons said.

The numbers are evidence of Haskell’s decades-long legacy of safety, which is top-of-mind at all times and manifests in innovative practices.

• It boiled its voluminous safety manual down to a 10-page Code of Safe Practices, written in straightforward language and spells out easily understandable practices.
• Its “Take 5” sessions, in which members of upper management visit job sites and talk with craftsmen about their training and safety habits.
• Its award-winning SafeMatters Jobsite Safety Orientation program is extended to all team members and contract partners.

“To do what we did this past year, I think, cements why safety is a core value with the company,” Simons said. “Everybody understands the core tenets. We try to simplify this process, so you don’t have to be a safety professional to understand why it's important and what you're supposed to do. By simplifying it and making our program focused on the craft professional and writing everything in their language and from their vantage point, I think has translated to our contract partners and everyone else.”

Haskell tracks another statistical category, Work in Place (WIP), that isn’t indexed by the USBLS. While RIR and DART record only Haskell team members, WIP also includes subcontract partners. And while few industry peers track and/or reveal their performances, Simons said Haskell’s rate of 1.14 was similarly eye-opening.

“One of the proudest things for me is when we do the ‘Take 5’ and we’re talking to a contract partner or a craft person who works for multiple GCs (general contractors) and he says, ‘Man, you can tell the difference on a Haskell job,’” he said. “They feel like they're valued as individuals and that we want the best of work environments for them.

“I like to think we're not only helping ourselves, but I think we're making the industry better by teaching these habits.”

In addition to the Pinnacle Award, Haskell once again achieved the Diamond level in ABC’s STEP safety management system. Founded in 1989, STEP participation demonstrates safety leadership and a cultural commitment to safety performance. STEP applicants measure safety processes and policies on 24 key components through a detailed questionnaire with the goal of implementing or enhancing safety programs that reduce jobsite incidents.

Haskell’s safety performance is one of many ways in which it ensures the greatest possible risk management on its clients’ projects. Contact our project management team to discuss your facilities needs.