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
Architects | Aug 17, 2015
Historic power plant converted to modern offices in Minnesota
A landmark power plant in Owatonna, Minn., damaged in a 2010 flood has new life as the headquarters of Owatonna Public Utilities following a renovation by architects Leo A. Daly.
High-rise Construction | Aug 11, 2015
Calatrava's Turning Torso wins CTBUH's 10 Year Award
The 623-foot, 57-story tower was the world's first twisting skyscraper. Completed in 2005, the building, designed by Santiago Calatrava, rotates 90 degrees along its height.
Architects | Aug 11, 2015
Architecture firm compensation trending upwards
Latest AIA compensation survey finds average compensation for staff positions up 3.5 percent from early 2013
Architects | Aug 11, 2015
12 architecture schools join NCARB's 'speedy path to licensure' program
For architecture students, a license to practice may soon be available as early as graduation day
Architects | Aug 10, 2015
HDR expands its Canadian presence through merger with CEI Architecture
Public-private partnerships are expected to be one of the combined entity’s strengths.
Retail Centers | Aug 10, 2015
Walgreens’ flagship in Hawaii harkens back to the island’s fishing culture
A house where canoes were made served as the model for this drug superstore’s design.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
GOVERNMENT SECTOR GIANTS: Public sector spending even more cautiously on buildings
AEC firms that do government work say their public-sector clients have been going smaller to save money on construction projects, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
K-12 SCHOOL SECTOR GIANTS: To succeed, school design must replicate real-world environments
Whether new or reconstructed, schools must meet new demands that emanate from the real world and rapidly adapt to different instructional and learning modes, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
MULTIFAMILY AEC GIANTS: Slowdown prompts developers to ask: Will the luxury rentals boom hold?
For the last three years, rental apartments have occupied the hot corner in residential construction, as younger people gravitated toward renting to be closer to urban centers and jobs. But at around 360,000 annual starts, multifamily might be peaking, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
Giants 400 | Aug 7, 2015
UNIVERSITY SECTOR GIANTS: Collaboration, creativity, technology—hallmarks of today’s campus facilities
At a time when competition for the cream of the student/faculty crop is intensifying, colleges and universities must recognize that students and parents are coming to expect an education environment that foments collaboration, according to BD+C's 2015 Giants 300 report.
