It is a testament to our members and contractors who worked the hours and made safety a priority.
L-374 accepts NACBE’s top safety award, the John R. Erickson award. L. to r. IP Timothy Simmons, IVP-GL Dan Sulivan, L-374 BM-ST Brad Sievers, NACBE Executive Director Ron Traxler and IST Clint Penny.
Great Lakes Area Local 374 (Hobart, Indiana) earned the John F. Erickson NACBE Safety Award, announced March 31, during the 2025 Construction Sector Operations Conference in Miami, Florida.
Each year, the National Association of Construction Boilermaker Employers recognizes local lodges for their members’ dedication to making and keeping workplaces safe. NACBE names one nationwide winner and one winner from each of the remaining U.S. sections. The awards are determined by the lowest injury rates followed by the highest percentage of Boilermaker man-hours worked for NACBE contractors participating in the NACBE safety index.
Top sectional winners were Western States, L-549 (Pittsburg, California); Northeast, L-154 (Pittsburgh) and Southeast L-433 (Tampa, Florida).
“It is a testament to our members and contractors who worked the hours and made safety a priority,” said L-374 Business Manager/Secretary-Treasurer Brad Sievers. “We are thankful and proud of our Local 374 brothers and sisters, as well as all the brothers and sisters who traveled to help man our work.”
NACBE Executive Director Ron Traxler talked about how the NACBE safety program has evolved over time.
“We learned we couldn’t just talk about safety without our partners. The Boilermakers recognized it takes everyone to make a safe worksite,” he said. “In 1992, the first regional safety awards were presented to the local with the best safety record. This has promoted the safety culture by cultivating healthy competition among the locals.”
Traxler also presented the 2024 safety index with 27 contractors reporting on 37.63% of all Boilermaker work from NACBE contractors. Lost-time injury rates were down from .40 in 2023 to .25 for 2024. Compensable injuries were up from 3.22 in 2023 to 3.58 for 2024. The OSHA recordable injury rates were up again for the fifth year in a row from 2023’s .92 to 1.40 in 2024, but OSHA recordable eye injuries were down from seven in 2023 to five in 2024. Compensable eye injuries ticked down from 31 in 2023 to 27 in 2024.
