TULSA, Okla. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District Fort Sill Resident Office and the M.A. Mortenson Company of Minneapolis, were honored during the 2011 Eagle Eye Construction Safety Awards presentation at the Corps’ district Headquarters in Tulsa, Okla., April 12.
M.A. Mortenson Company received the Tulsa District Eagle Eye Contractor of the Year award and the Fort Sill Resident Office received the Tulsa District Eagle Eye Construction Office of the Year award.
In addition, Randall Kendall, Fort Sill Resident Office, received the Eagle Eye Construction Representative of the Year award and Frank Howe, safety specialist, was presented the Eagle Eye Safety Representative of the Year award.
The awards were presented to the teams and individuals for their work on the Unaccompanied Enlisted Personnel Housing facilities at Fort Sill, Okla. The UEPH facilities project consisted of the construction of seven, three story barracks, which will house single enlisted personnel.
“The UEPH facilities project proved that safety and quality go hand in hand,” said Bob Vandegriff, Tulsa District safety manager. “M.A. Mortenson Company and the Corps construction team successfully completed the $53 million project without a single lost time accident.”
The Eagle Eye Construction Safety Awards began in 1996 and encourage contractors working on civil and military construction contracts in the Tulsa District to provide safe working conditions on their job sites. The program is designed to set measurable goals for safety performance and to foster competition among contractors.
The competition aspect is an important part of the program, said Vandegriff.
“There’s a healthy element of competition between the offices and the construction representatives,” he said. “Each one of them believes that they have the best people running great projects. Our employees take a great deal of pride in ownership.”
The Eagle Eye program is designed to help create a climate to promote the Tulsa District’s goal of zero accidents on construction sites.
“This is a goal that we share with our contractors rather than one that we impose,” Vandegriff said.
It’s important to recognize both contractors and Corps offices and personnel because of the relationship and teamwork needed to complete a project safely, according to Vandegriff.
“Safety is in the business of taking care of people,” he said. “A real safety program is a compassionate approach to ensuring that we provide for our employees’ and contractors’ work needs by making sure that they have the right tools and training to safely complete any task that we give them.”