This year’s winner of AWCI’s Excellence in Construction Safety Award for companies with more than 450,000 annual man hours is AROK, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz.
Since 1972, AROK has worked on commercial construction projects in 11 states, from a ski resort 9,000 feet in the mountains to multiple projects sea level.
All employees, from the employees in the field to the company’s owners, are safety ambassadors on the job. The company exceeds OSHA standards by implementing its own safety programs. Once all field personnel were required to wear mandatory PPE, including cut-resistant gloves and Kevlar sleeves, hand and arm injury rates decreased by 99.99 percent.
And then there’s AROK’s SLAM Program: Stop. Look. Analyze. Manage. SLAM is brought into play during all high-risk activities. If an employee believes an unsafe act has been committed or an imminent danger exists, AROK employees are encouraged to stop that person—even if the worker is in another trade.
Enhancing its focus on safety has netted the company savings in many areas, adding up to more than a quarter million dollars. Most importantly, employees leave their jobs and return home with no injuries.
Since AROK has ramped up its safety program, its experience modification ratings have dropped. Clients recognize the value of AROK’s exceptional rating, which gives the company a competitive edge in the marketplace.
Recently, the company received a safety award from its own insurance company, which selected AROK because “they have shown outstanding results with their risk management programs, loss ratio, and reduction of their WC experience mod … [making] significant contributions to advance safety, health and prosperity in the workplace.”
