Local 263 wins NACBE safety award

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Mike Allen, BM-ST for Local 263 (Memphis, Tenn.), accepts the top NACBE safety award on behalf of his local. Joining in the presentation are, (l. to r.), NACBE Exec. Dir. John Erickson, NACBE Pres. Wendell Bell, IVP Warren Fairley, and IP Newton Jones.

Injury rates drop across three categories

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of Construction Boilermaker Employers (NACBE) presented its annual safety awards to the 2011 top-performing locals from the Boilermakers’ four U.S. vice-presidential sections March 5 during the annual Construction Sector Operations conference held at Marco Island, Fla.

Local 263 (Memphis, Tenn.), representing the Southeast, took national honors with zero lost-time accidents, zero compensable injuries, and zero OSHA-recordable injuries.

The three other lodges finishing first in their sections included Northeast Local 45 (Richmond, Va.); Great Lakes Local 85 (Toledo, Ohio); and Western States Local 627 (Phoenix, Ariz.).

NACBE Executive Director John Erickson said the safety index covered nearly 60 percent of all construction Boilermaker man-hours worked in 2011. The index showed improvements across all three injury categories tracked: lost time at .23, down from .26 in 2010; compensable down 1.4 points to 5.43; and OSHA recordable, down to 2.18 from 2.74 in 2010.

NACBE began tracking safety performance using the index in 1990.

Erickson also announced that NACBE has created an affiliate membership opportunity for equipment suppliers and service providers that have a connection to the industry. Affiliates attending the conference included Lincoln Electric, Mafco, Hi-Temp, and Brotherhood Bank & Trust.