The Boldt Company: Honored for safety record

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Company racks up unprecedented seven annual awards becoming safest construction firm in Wisconsin

No other construction company has won as many Wisconsin safety awards as The Boldt Company. The firm was selected the 2009 Wisconsin Corporate Safety Award Grand recipient making a total of seven awards Boldt has received from the Wisconsin Safety Council. The firm received the grand award in the construction category at the annual Wisconsin Safety and Health Congress Expo April 27.

The Wisconsin Corporate Safety Awards are co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Council of Safety and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. The annual awards program honors businesses for top safety records and recognizes companies that have low injury incidence rates and establish health and safety procedures, policies and track results. Boldt was recognized in the large company division which reviews construction firms with more than 1 million annual payroll hours.

In 2009, Boldt reported more than 1,441,968 work hours in Wisconsin, logging a lost time incident rate of 0.3. The national average is 1.7 according to the National Bureau of Labor Statistics. Boldt’s incidence rate has trended well below the national average in the construction industry for many years.

“Our first business priority is to make sure everyone goes home safely,” said Jeff Johnson, Vice President of Human Resources and Risk Management. “Our customers trust us to get their projects done on time and on budget, but they also expect us to run a safe worksite.”

Boldt executives have a goal of “Zero Incidents” and make safety a part of the everyday culture. The company has a nationwide safety campaign in place called “Safety: A Way of Life” with materials created in English and Spanish.

Nationwide, The Boldt Company employs more than 1500 workers on hundreds of jobsites. Over the years the firm has invested in equipment on sites that maximize safety. Specifically, aerial work platforms and state of the art scaffolding minimize fall exposure. Items such as roof striders and horizontal lifelines have been incorporated to protect personnel. Boldt is also a pioneer in incorporating ergonomics on job sites limiting repetitive injuries through job rotation on physical tasks such as jack hammering, using of anti-vibration gloves or lighter, fiberglass ladders.

Construction is widely recognized as one of the country’s most dangerous professions. Boldt serves clients in the power and wind industries which require work hundreds of feet in the air and lifting extremely heavy components. “The extreme heights, weather constraints and tight spaces on these jobs are challenging, but we still have to ensure our crews are working safely,” said Boldt Safety Director Jeff Schilleman. “Our goal is to meet the customers’ needs, but do so safely.”

However, Boldt safety directors credit training and building a safety culture with their success to date. According to Johnson, Boldt has established a safety culture, not just another task on a job site. “For us, safety is about the guys on the job, their families and all of our employees at work and at home.”

When reviewing improvements to the existing safety program, Boldt focused on common areas of exposure and created a communications program to change behaviors in those areas. Boldt team members average 70-75 hours per person, per year in safety education with a focus on:

* Correctly tying off. Boldt crews have to physically be tied off if they are working six feet or more off the ground. Additionally, Boldt has purchased equipment specifically designed to minimize fall exposure such as aerial work platforms and specialized scaffolding.

* Lifting with your knees to limit back injuries. Both at jobsites and in office environments, Boldt has been a pioneer at incorporating ergonomics in the workplace.

* Keeping job sites clean so injuries are not caused by materials carelessly left on the ground.

* Inspecting and turning in damaged or broken tools.

* Each team member completes basic safety education followed by instruction specific to a task and jobsite. Team members on each job site participate in a daily 10-minute safety meeting to review that day’s issues.

* Boldt employs 12 full-time safety professionals who travel from job site to job site for training and safety audits. Each site foreman completes a daily safety task analysis where specific hazards can be discussed and resolved prior to performing work.

* Boldt established a toll-free hotline so employees can call anonymously to report safety issues.

“The Boldt Company is a prime example of a safe company,” said Bryan Roessler, director of the Wisconsin Safety Council. “They have agreement from all levels of the company that safety is a huge priority for them.”

The Boldt Company provides professional construction services to customers in a variety of industrial, institutional, healthcare, commercial and renewable energy markets nationwide. Boldt is among the top-ranked general contractors in the nation and has 13 offices throughout the United States. http://www.boldt.com.

The Wisconsin Safety Council is a charitable non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to making Wisconsin a safe and healthy place to live and work. As Wisconsin’s chapter of the National Safety Council, the Wisconsin Safety Council promotes safety and health programs, resource services and educational materials for community outreach. For more information on the Corporate Safety Awards, visit the Wisconsin Safety Council website at: http://www.wisafetycouncil.org.

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The Boldt Company

Safety Record

* Wisconsin Corporate Safety Awards: 1996, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009

* 2008 Boldt was named one of “America’s Safest Companies” according to EH&S Magazine (formerly Occupational Hazards magazine), one of the leading safety journals in the nation

* Boldt CEO Tom Boldt was inducted into the Safety Hall of Fame in 2002.

The complete list of award winners is:

City – Award Winner

Appleton – The Boldt Company

Appleton – Warehouse Specialists, Inc.

Bloomer – Cummins Filtration

Eau Claire – Phillips Plastics Corporation

Germantown – Great Lakes Roofing Corporation

Green Bay – Northern Electric Inc.

Green Bay – Tweet/Garot Mechanical, Inc.

Junction City – Flint Hills Resources – Terminal Operations

Madison – Alliant Energy

Middleton – Monsanto Company Agracetus Campus

Milwaukee – Campbell Soup Supply Company LLC

Monroe – The Swiss Colony, Inc.

Port Washington – We Energies Port Washington Generating Station

Richland Center – Rockwell Automation

Walworth – USG Interiors, Inc.

About Wisconsin Safety Council

The Wisconsin Safety Council is a charitable non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to making Wisconsin a safe and healthy place to live and work. The Wisconsin Safety Council is part of the educational division of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Wisconsin’s manufacturers association and state chamber of commerce. As Wisconsin’s chapter of the National Safety Council, the Wisconsin Safety Council promotes safety and health programs, resource services and educational materials for community outreach.