Miller & Long’s Safety Culture – Always Improving
Author: Frank Trujillo, Vice President, Safety, Miller & Long
As chair of the Associated Builders and Contractors’ (ABC) National Safety Committee, I meet monthly with many of the largest and most safety-minded contractors in the country. During our meetings, we discuss the most pressing safety issues facing our industry and learn from each other’s mistakes and successes. We start every meeting with a “safety moment” where a recent real-life safety situation is shared by a committee member and is discussed by all.
It has become expected that Miller & Long will always have a “safety moment” ready to discuss. I am never bashful or ashamed to share our experiences with the committee because I am always proud that we never miss an opportunity to learn from every accident, near-miss, or safety observation.
Many committee members want to know how we promote safety to such a large and diverse workforce. I give credit to our culture of caring that starts with the company ownership and permeates every level of management and every tradesperson with a hammer, saw, trowel, or machine. I am also honest about our opportunities for improvement. No company is perfect and some of the most important safety lessons are learned through pain and regret. That said, I remain proud to stand beside every Miller & Long employee as we continue our safety journey.
As part of acknowledging our efforts, here are some stats that are the direct result of how much each Miller & Long employee cares about safety, quality, efficiency, and customer service.
Incident and Injury Reduction
We have made significant strides in injury reduction – injuries have decreased consistently since 2013 as shown below:
We recognize that every single accident we prevent represents a person who did not have to experience the mental and physical pain associated with a workplace injury. Over the years, that amounts to hundreds of our fellow workers who have been spared the experience of a workplace injury.
Claim Cost Reduction
Since 2013, Miller & Long has experienced steady injury-related cost reductions as shown by the following graph:
The reduction of injury-related costs is critically important to Miller & Long’s ability to stay competitive and profitable. We can only build the future of the D.C. Metropolitan Area skyline with our skilled tradespersons, but we must also remember that we can only build projects that are awarded to us by our customers. Our ability to build safely, efficiently, and with industry-leading customer service is what sets us apart.
Industry Recognition
We are recognized by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) as an Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) and Top Performer, which means we lead the industry in quality control practices, human resource support systems, diversity and inclusion efforts, industry and community outreach, and of course, safety. Miller & Long goes above and beyond delivering a quality concrete product safely and efficiently. These recognitions also show that we go the extra mile for our employees, our community, and the industry and represent the 360-degree approach that industry-leading organizations take when high achievement and continuous improvement are core values and adopted at every level.
Finally, the Avocet Tower project in Bethesda, Maryland, was recognized for the national ABC Eagle Award. This award is presented to only a select few projects in the country that represent all the best qualities of a well-managed and excellently executed project.
None of this could be achieved without our employees’ direct efforts. It is often said that “being safe is no accident.” Well, the same must be said for success. It takes a deliberate effort to be successful in our safety goals, quality goals, efficiency goals, culture goals, and outreach goals. I look forward to taking our safety performance to the next level in the days, weeks, and months to come.