William Pierce, a custom home building from Helena, Montana, was named the winner of Caterpillar’s Safety Award on Friday, as part of the Equipment World Contractor of the Year event, at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. NASCAR driver Jeff Burton presented the award.
While all 12 of the Contractor of the Year finalists had above average safety programs, Pierce & Associates Builders’ safety program stood above the rest. In addition to having no reportable injuries in the last year and a below average experience mod factor, Pierce has been extensively involved in making the contraction industry safer for everyone in Montana. He was instrumental in helping pass the Montana Safety Culture Act and in establishing a Group Rewards Insurance Program with the state’s workman’s compensation board. As a result, contractors who maintain safe sites get cash back from their workman’s comp provider each year. And to make sure his own crews stay safe, Pierce pays a quarterly “safety” bonus to each crew that maintains an accident free site.
Pierce holds a monthly safety meeting for all employees and provides more focused training like excavation and trench safety and forklift training, and power actuated tools as needed. He also encourages his crew members to get CDLs to improve their skills with big trucks and considers good equipment maintenance to be a major factor in running safe sites.
This is the first year for the Cat Contractor of the Year Safety Program. The finalists were judged by the lost time incident rates, experience mod factor, accountability, engagement, support and reinforcement, and making a difference. We’ll have more details about the program and how you can apply in the near future.
For more on Cat’s safety program, click here.
