All the members work really hard on safety, and it’s nice to see that the training our apprentices [receive]—and the mentorship under our journeymen—keeps everyone working in a safe manner.
Clinton Penny, BM-ST of Local 11, accepts the John F. Erickson NACBE Safety Award on behalf of his lodge during the 2020 Construction Sector Operations conference. L. to r. are IVP-WS J. Tom Baca, Penny, NACBE Executive Director Ron Traxler and IP Newton Jones.
FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE year—and the third time in four years—Western States’ Local 11 (Helena, Montana) earned NACBE’s highest safety award. L-11 was presented with the John F. Erickson NACBE Safety Award on March 2 during the Boilermakers’ 2020 Construction Sector Operations Conference in Marco Island, Florida.
“This all has to do with the guys out there working in the field. All the members work really hard on safety, and it’s nice to see that the training our apprentices [receive]—and the mentorship under our journeymen—keeps everyone working in a safe manner,” said L-11 business manager/secretary treasurer Clinton Penny.
Each year, the National Association of Construction Boilermaker Employers recognizes local lodges that exemplify safety, naming one overall 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 from NACBE contractors participating in the NACBE safety index.
NACBE Executive Director Ron Traxler presented the overall 2019 safety index data gathered from 39 reporting contractors, which included good news in downward trends for all data categories:
- Lost time injury rate from .12 to .11
- Compensable injury rate from 5.29 to 2.64
- OSHA recordable rate from 1.23 to .64
- Compensable eye injuries from 102 to 38
- OSHA eye injuries from 12 to 3
In addition, 20 local lodges had zero compensable injuries in 2019, up from 14 locals in 2018.
“Thank you everyone for pushing safety on your job sites,” said Traxler. “It’s important to us and to our families. Our main goal is to make sure everyone returns home safely from work.”
Other local lodges honored in addition to L-11’s nationwide win were: Great Lakes’ Local 105 (Piketon, Ohio), Southeast’s Local 110 (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) and Northeast’s Local 667 (Charleston, West Virginia).
