This year’s winner of AWCI’s Excellence in Construction Safety Award for companies with more than 300,000 annual man hours is Baker Drywall, Ltd. in Mesquite, Texas.
Baker Drywall believes “safety is our way of life.” In fact, safety is such a core value that it has its own section on the company’s website. Its award-winning safety program begins at the top and includes every single employee.
With more than 35 years of industry experience, CEO Steve Baker has focused the company on making sure every employee can return home safely to his or her family at the end of each working day.
Safety begins with a detailed, hands-on new employee orientation. Every employee must be properly trained for their assignments, so they are not only competent in what they do, but also confident in how they do it.
The company emphasizes that each employee must take responsibility for his or her own safety. They understand that there consequences for safety missteps; if a safety rule violation does occur, retraining immediately follows.
Employees are not left simply to their own devices, though. The company makes sure every employee understands that they also are there to help each other. Safety is everyone’s job.
That commitment is evident in the company’s drop in recordable incidents. When it came time to renew its insurance for 2012, Baker Drywall saved more than $500,000 in insurance premiums. Even better, injuries decreased by 82 percent.
Baker Drywall’s major commitment to safety deserves the accolades of its fellow members of AWCI and the industry.
