Safety

Safety. Simply put, nothing we do is more important than helping to insure that our employees and team members return home safely to their loved ones each night.

It's partly because we're an employee-owned company where family is a key ingredient — and a company where employees are viewed as our greatest and most valuable asset.

But more importantly, we are safety zealots because it's simply the right thing to do. All of which means that at McCarthy we've made the quest for a zero injury work environment not just a priority, but instead one of the company's Core Values.

McCarthy was recently recognized by the national AGC as the safest large contractor in America. Click here to read about this.

How We Make Safety a Core Value

Some in the construction industry used to (and some still do) believe that “you can't afford to be safe.” We reject that notion outright — and instead have a formal safety program that's actively managed by a trained and dedicated staff of safety professionals. Please contact our Corporate Safety Director, Gary Amsinger, should you have any questions or comments.

How we do so is best summarized in four words: Communication,Training, Motivation and Monitoring — points that are reinforced in the following ways:

• McCarthy's detailed Safety Guidelines program (a comprehensive resource tool) is continually updated to provide the highest level of loss control, and is available to all employees via the company's Intranet.
• A safe work environment is provided by preplanning and by minimizing and eliminating hazards. Where existing hazards cannot be eliminated, their harmful effects are minimized through environmental controls, training in safe work methods, and by providing and requiring the use of personal protective equipment.
• Each McCarthy team member is trained to develop and maintain the skills required to perform their work safely.
• Communications between McCarthy team members and supervisors are an important part of our program and are used to expedite handling of suggestions for the minimizing and elimination of work hazards.
• Regular motivation methods such as lunches and on-going merchandise/incentive awards are employed to encourage employee participation in safe work methods and correcting onsite conditions.
• Scheduled and surprise inspections are conducted regularly to identify potentially unsafe conditions and to provide immediate correction.
• Before each work activity our foremen have been trained to perform a hazard analysis with their crew to discuss how to safely perform each task assigned.
• Our drug and alcohol abuse testing not only protects our employees from impaired individuals but encourages individuals to seek help if they should need professional counseling with regard to a substance abuse problem.
• Each employee is trained with regard to our safety expectations as well as those requested to be observed by the owner. Orientation of the project rules and project layout is also done prior to starting work.
• Before any employee takes to the field their supervisor meets with them in the jobsite office to explain how important their safety is to him/her and to the company.
• All new hires are identified so that our seasoned employees can mentor them while working on site.

What Happens When You Make Safety a Core Value

The company's total commitment to safety has paid dividends for everyone involved. In every significant measure, McCarthy's safety performance has consistently improved. Our proactive approach to safety has resulted in McCarthy achieving a safety record four times better than the industry average. In 2006, McCarthy celebrated our safest year since our inception in 1864.

As a result of safety becoming a core value, our experience modifier (EMR) has produced a credit on our workers' compensation insurance premium for each of the last 12 years. Our most recent EMR is .55 meaning that we essentially get a 45% discount on our insurance rates — which allows us to pass the savings on to our clients.

 

 

 

While our incident rates have shown steady improvement over the years, our goal remains ZERO INCIDENTS — a goal each and every McCarthy employee takes very seriously. And speaking of zero incidents…

 

 

 

 

Most notably, we're proud to acknowledge these recent McCarthy projects which reported no recordable accidents during the entire course of construction.

• 3121 Michelson Office Building
• Alegent Health Immanuel Hospital
• Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital
• Arena Corporate Center
• Arizona State University Parking Structure
• Bassett Healthcare Phase 1
• Baylor University Parking Garages (2)
• Boeing Hornet Facility & Paint Booth
• Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Central Missouri Bank
• Cornell University Duffield Hall
• Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center East Mall
• Kaiser ADA San Francisco at Geary Street
• Kaiser Harbor City Parking Structure
• Kaiser Harbor/Mac
• Kaiser West LA 24 Hour Pharmacy
• Kaiser West LA
  Parking Structure
• Knapp Medical Center Education Center
• Knapp Medical Center Emergency Room Addition
• Lakewood Medical Center Bradenton
• Los Angeles Unified School District Parking Structure
• Mehlville School District Projects (6)
• MidMichigan Ambulance Surgery
• National Baseball Hall of Fame
• Promenade Center
• Providence St. Joseph Health Center
• Ranken Jordan Pediatric Center
• Rice University Nanotech Lab
• Riverside Regional Medical Center
• Saint Francis Heart Hospital
• Sally Beauty Products Headquarters
• Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Emergency Department
• Sentara Careplex
• Shaw Park Plaza
• Sierra Madre Parking Structure
• Spring Valley Medical Office Building
• St. John’s Mercy Hospital Tower C
• St. Joseph Cardiac Care
• St. Louis Art Museum
• Tahoe Wabo Cantina
• Torrance Memorial Medical Office Building
• UC Davis Activity and Rec Center
• UC-SD Bioengineering
• University of North Texas Sorority Row
• US 288 Bridge
• Victoria Gardens Parking Structure
• Washington University Greenway Phase 2
• Washington University Olin Library
• Washington University Phase 2B Residence Hall
• Washington University Phase 3 Housing
• Woodland Police Station
• Yuma Regional Medical Center

A Word on Partnership

McCarthy's safety philosophy is built upon the notion that everyone needs to be on the same page for a safety program to work. We've taken that team approach to a new level by partnering with OSHA and becoming part of their Strategic Partnership Program (OSPP) — which moves away from traditional enforcement methods and embraces collaborative agreements. Through OSPP, OSHA and its partners agree to work cooperatively to address critical safety and health issues. This very different approach is proving to be an effective tool for reducing fatalities, injuries, and illnesses in the workplace.

Here are just a few examples of McCarthy/OSHA partnerships in action: