Stellar, an architecture, engineering, construction and mechanical services firm, has earned the Associated Builders and Contractors' (ABC) highest national safety designation for 2011-the Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP) Diamond-level award. Stellar was the only contractor in the Florida First Coast Chapter (with more than 140 member companies), and one of only four in Florida, to earn Diamond status.
There are six levels of STEP achievement: Participant, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. Member companies that achieve Diamond status-a new level established just last year-are an elite group. More than 2,100 ABC contractor members applied for the STEP program in 2011, with just 94 members achieving STEP Diamond status.
"Our most important goal is to send our employees and subcontractors home safe to their families, every day," said Philip Hinrichs, Stellar's Vice President of Risk Management. "That's why we develop a job-specific safety plan for each and every project and perform safety audits on a regular basis. We're proud to see these efforts recognized."
Stellar has achieved STEP certification 16 years in a row. Now widely accepted as the construction industry's standard measure of safety performance, the STEP awards were established in 1989 to evaluate and improve safety practices and recognize outstanding safety efforts. The award criteria include two industry benchmarks-the experience modification rate (EMR), which is applied to workers' compensation premiums, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) recordable injury and illness incidence rates (measured by the number of incidents per 100 employees per year).
STEP Diamond recipients must have long-term records of exceptional safety performance, with EMRs at or below 0.7 (a significantly lower rate than the national average of 1.0) and average incidence rates at least 50 percent below construction industry averages. EMRs, developed by the insurance industry, are based on comparisons of firms doing similar types of work. Lower rates, meaning that fewer or less-severe accidents occurred, result in lower insurance costs. BD+C
Related Stories
Building Team | Aug 4, 2016
Thought leaders from architecture, engineering and construction to meet at 2016 Bluebeam eXtreme Conference
Bluebeam users inspire technological change through shared insights and training at three-day event.
| Aug 4, 2016
MULTIFAMILY BUILDING GIANTS: Rental complexes focus on affordability, accessibility, and specialty amenities
To address the affordability problem and attract tenants, owners and developers are experimenting with smaller and smaller units, amenity-rich environments, and “co-living” concepts.
| Aug 4, 2016
Top 110 Multifamily Architecture Firms
Perkins Eastman, CallisonRTKL, and Solomon Cordwell Buenz top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest multifamily building sector architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 3, 2016
GREEN BUILDING GIANTS: Sustainability leaders turn to wellness and technology to get an edge
AEC leaders in green building are stepping up to a higher level of innovation and to be a green leader today, you have to dig deeper into data.
| Aug 2, 2016
Top 130 Green Building Architecture Firms
Gensler, Stantec, and HOK top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest green building sector architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
Architects | Aug 2, 2016
Bradley Lukanic named CannonDesign's CEO
In his new role, Lukanic takes helm of an experienced leadership team crafting and achieving optimal short- and long-term strategies and business outcomes
| Aug 1, 2016
K-12 SCHOOL GIANTS: In a new era of K-12 education, flexibility is crucial to design
Space flexibility is critical to classroom design. Spaces have to be adaptable, even allowing for drastic changes such as a doubling of classroom size.
| Jul 29, 2016
AIRPORT FACILITIES GIANTS: Airports binge on construction during busy year for travel
Terminal construction will grow by nearly $1 billion this year, and it will keep increasing. Airports are expanding and modernizing their facilities to keep passengers moving.
| Jul 29, 2016
Top 35 Airport Terminal Architecture and A/E Firms
Corgan, HOK, and Gensler top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest airport terminal architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
Architects | Jul 28, 2016
Connecting the dots: Architecture and design in a changing world
What do Tesla, Airbnb and Amazon have in common? They’re all shifting the paradigm for quality of life and the built environment, as CallisonRTKL senior associate VP Jayson Lee explains.