“It was a great honor to win [the] NACBE award. It is a tribute to our contractors and especially the dedication of our members to detail and craftsmanship.”
L. to r., NACBE Executive Director Ron Traxler, IP Newton Jones, L-744 BM-ST Marty Mahon and IVP-GL Lawrence McManamon celebrate L-744's award.
The National Association of Construction Boilermaker Employers presented Great Lakes Area Local 744 (Cleveland) with this year’s John F. Erickson NACBE Safety Award. Presented during the 2023 Construction Sector Operations Conference in Marco Island, Florida, Feb. 27 through Mar. 2, the award is based upon the achievements of the top-performing locals in the Boilermakers’ four U.S. International Vice Presidents’ geographical jurisdiction.
NACBE Executive Director Ron Traxler presented the overall 2022 safety index and opened with an important message:
“Every contractor has a commitment to safety; every employee has a commitment to safety; every owner has a commitment to safety, and they will not tolerate any unsafe habits. It’s a lot different today than it was years ago,” Traxler said.
Statistics from 35 NACBE contractor organizations included good news from 2022 common arc testing experience rates, which were significantly up in all categories from previous years. Following on a positive track was a .24% decrease in injury rates for lost time over the past year. On a slight increase, OHSA recordable rates went from .49% to .78% in 2022 and compensable rates from 2.19% to 2.72%. Compensable eye injury rates remained the same from 2021 at 30, however the overall eye injury rate dramatically decreased from five in 2021 to only one in 2022. In total, there were 27 locals at a zero compensable injury rate in 2022, down only one from last year’s 28.
L-744 BM-ST Marty Mahon accepted the national safety award on the local’s behalf.
“It was a great honor to win [the] NACBE award. It is a tribute to our contractors and especially the dedication of our members to detail and craftsmanship.” Mahon said.
NACBE annually recognizes local lodges for their members’ dedication to making and keeping their workplaces safe. In recognition, one nationwide winner and one winner from each of the remaining U.S. sections are awarded. 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.
Sectional award winners were: Northeast—Local 28 (Newark, New Jersey); Southeast—Local 37 (St. Louis) and Western States—Local 11 (Helena, Montana).
