Company Name: Perini Management Services Incorporated
Framingham, MA
Number of Employees: 120

Nomination Essay:

Company Description

Perini Management Services, Inc. (PMSI) is a leading construction services company offering diversified general contracting, construction management and design-build services to private clients and public agencies throughout the world. PMSI has worked extensively with clients such as Raytheon, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, and Exelon Nuclear Power Group, who provide highly technical, U.S. government funded and/or regulated services and therefore have well documented and strict safety standards. PMSI is heavily involved in international military construction including $1.4 billion dollars of projects in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past six years. PMSI also manages a contract completion program for a wide variety of defaulted bonded projects throughout the United States. PMSI recently completed a specialized Aircraft Acoustical Enclosure for the Marine Corp in Beaufort, South Carolina, which had to be completely demolished from what was built by a previous contractor and rebuilt from the ground up. The project required precision craftsmanship as the final product was a testing facility for military fighter aircraft to test the engines while "in-frame" in the aircraft. The PMSI group is currently working in several locations throughout Iraq, constructing various projects including blast resistant coverage systems built over existing structures that are in use by military and diplomatic personnel. PMSI has led the design and construction team for more than 100 of these structures.

Safety Program

PMSI's safety program begins with the Corporate President and COO who takes overall direct responsibility for its performance. The company's Division Safety Managers report directly to the COO and have direct access to him for any important issues. Division Presidents and Vice Presidents monitor the safety performance of their projects through monthly reports generated at each project site by the safety officers and superintendents, as well as performing safety observations of their own during site visits. PMSI requires all Project Managers and Superintendents to attend an OSHA 30 hour course and First Aid, CPR and AED course upon their employment. Project Safety Engineers report to officials at the jobsites but report administratively to the Division Safety Managers. Project Safety Engineers and Division Safety Managers are Certified Instructors for the OSHA 10/30 Hour courses. Each new project begins with Project Managers, Superintendents and Safety Professionals creating a Job Specific Safety Program based on a hazard analysis of the various methods of construction to be used in the work, whether structural steel, concrete, pre-cast etc, and through to finishes. These plans are also incorporated in the bid structure prior to the description of work going out for bid. In turn each subcontractor is required to do the same for their scope of work and these programs are reviewed by Perini before work commences.

PMSI has been heavily involved with the "Injury Free Environment (IFE)," to all of their employees including subcontractors. PMSI meets regularly with other contractor's in the New England area to promote and build on this exciting new concept. PMSI's upper management and supervision all the way down to the engineers in training, actively encourage all employees and subcontractors on the importance of working safely and not allowing conditions where chances are taken. Each employee is reminded of their value and importance to their families and the company.

Contracts issued for subcontract work on PMSI projects contain an extensive safety exhibit, setting forth requirements that exceed those of regulatory agencies governing our business. 100% Fall Protection above six feet, for any and all work, is a cornerstone of our safety program. Steel Erection, although challenging, is routinely accomplished using qualified contractors and 100% fall protection. Crane Safety is integral part of our corporate culture. PMSI has an ongoing alliance with Crane Institute of America, both for obtaining training for project personnel, consulting and 3rd party engineering review on critical lifts. All crane lifts exceeding 75% of the chart capacity, tower crane erection and dismantlement, or any unusual or complicated lift procedures, are required by subcontract to be reviewed by an engineer and PMSI before the procedure is attempted.

Subcontracts for electrical work contain requirements for GFCI protection on all temporary electrical systems used by workers at each site. PMSI has been active in training personnel regarding the new NFPA 70 E standards by sponsoring classes through the electrical training hall in Boston. The Electrical 70 E training program was recently sponsored at the Bayside Expo in Boston for the OSHA Round Table which PMSI is a member.

Before any new employee begins work, they are safety oriented specifically to the hazards of the site that they will be working at. They are then shown a company safety video which is also available on DVD. This video was shot on sites throughout the country showing our employees in the actual work environment of our company. The program starts with a safety announcement from the COO of the company, Robert Band. They are given a PMSI Safety Hand Book which is also available in Spanish. After the orientation, they are drug tested if the site allows it in the project labor agreement.

PMSI has incorporated several programs for safety training of personnel. One is the online training program. PMSI offers OSHA 30 training at least twice a year where anyone can attend. One of the courses is given at Wentworth Institute in Boston where we have new engineers taking our courses for free. Several of these up-coming young professionals work for PMSI through the student intern program and become employees after graduation. The training programs have also been tied in to the incentive program by sending out questionnaires that must be answered and mailed in to a vendor who sends out awards to the employee's home with a thank you letter for working safe.

Projects are corporately audited for safety participation on a semi-annual basis. A score is given to each project based on:

• Documented safety audits by superintendents and project managers.
• Toolbox safety meeting with participation by all workers on the site.
• Accident rates and hours worked.
• The results of safety audits performed by outside agencies.
• Overall effectiveness of the project team regarding safety.

All project sites conduct weekly safety meetings, in conjunction with the tool box training, which are conducted by the safety officer and the project manager.

There are two tiers of awards presented for projects that score well. Each project scoring above a specified level receives safety award gifts for each half of the calendar year. The exceptional projects are nominated annually for the "Presidents Safety Award", the winner receiving recognition and an award from the corporation for their performance.

Superintendents who exceed the goals by obtaining a perfect score are awarded the "Gold Hat Award", and the crews are given prizes along with a special dinner attended by upper management.

Why our program should be considered

PMSI's safety program is effective because ownership of the safety program is given to the workers. PMSI maintains an open door policy at each site whereby any worker may address concerns directly to the project manager. Usually, however, problems are solved directly in the field as workers know they will be supported by upper management where safety is concerned.

PMSI has worked diligently to assure that all PMSI employees understand the safety program and no matter what level they are in the organization, they are empowered to take prompt action in correcting infractions that they may encounter and documenting their action to the safety manager for tracking purposes.

All employees are required to be OSHA 10 hour certified but currently, almost 95% are 30 hour certified. Specialized courses are held each year that last from a half a day to two days on topics as: Mobile cranes, Defensive Driving, CPR and First Aid. PMSI also purchases and teaches their employees how to use an AED, automatic defibrillator.

Because of our safety program and our relationships that are built on trust, PMSI receives repeat business from our clients and return of partnerships with our subcontractors on other projects.

PMSI's commitment to safety has kept our incident and frequency rates well below the national average.

We thank the committee for their consideration.