Based on excellent performance, productivity and safety throughout 2011, which included zero OSHA recordable incidents, Safway Services has been named the 2011 Large Contractor of the Year at the Valero Benicia Refinery in Benicia, California, US. It is the second time in just four years that the company has received this recognition, since Safway was named Large Contractor of the Year by the Valero Benicia Refinery for the first time in 2008. No other scaffold contractor in the last five years has been given this award at the Benicia site.
"During the 2011 Benicia refinery-wide turnaround, the Safway project team executed a productive and injury-free job associated with the turnaround’s scaffolding challenges," says Sonny Menzel, central maintenance director for Valero Benicia Refinery. "Safway strives for continuous improvement in all projects and maintains a high emphasis on safety."
All eligible companies are graded on a contractor safety performance index (CSPI) point system. The CSPI is a complex set of categories that evaluates incident rates, employee participation in behaviour-based safety programs, permit compliance, and more.
Safway has regularly provided scaffolding and access solutions at the Valero Benicia Refinery since 2004.
However, this year the workforce and man hours grew significantly due to the scheduled refinery-wide turnaround. Over the course of the year, Safway had as many as 150 workers on site and logged approximately 111,635 man hours, to provide access throughout the entire facility. The increase in work and personnel called for additional safety supervision, thorough planning and cautious execution.
"When you factor in the scope of work we performed, with our 0.0 OSHA recordable incident rate, this award reflects all of the hard work our employees put into this project," says Gary Duncan, Safway’s western division president. "Considering that a lot of times these awards go to the general contractor or to other kinds of construction trade companies, we’re very honoured, as a scaffolding
