Kansas City, Mo., September 4, 2002 -- Black & Veatch, a engineering, construction and consulting company, announced recently that it has received the Gold Safety Award from Liberty Mutual, a provider of Workers' Compensation insurance.
Black & Veatch was recognized for its safety ratings for a two-year period during which the company was well below the national industry average in 2000 and 2001. This prominent award is presented to fewer than three percent of Liberty Mutual's customers.
Len Rodman, Black & Veatch chairman, president and CEO, accepted the award presented by Chuck Gerber, manager, account services consulting, Liberty Mutual and Jeff Thomsen, national accounts senior service director, Liberty Mutual at Black & Veatch's Quarterly Management Meeting held in Kansas City, Mo., on August 30 on behalf of all 5,473 U.S.-based professionals.
"To continue to be recognized for our safety efforts is a privilege," said Rodman. "As the health and safety of our professionals remains a top priority, there is a sense of gratification to see our incident rates continue to decline. We couldn't have achieved this without the conscious efforts of every Black & Veatch professional to improve safety."
To be considered for the award, the total number of hours that all U.S.-based Black & Veatch professionals worked over the past year was calculated. A company must have more than one million hours to qualify.
Additionally, Workers' Compensation incident rates must be less than half the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) rate, and lost workday case rates must be 80 percent better than the BLS rate.
Black & Veatch's Workers' Compensation incident rate is 90 percent better than the national average and 97 percent better than the lost workday case rate national average.
"We (Black & Veatch) attribute our success to our zero injury campaign and professionals' efforts. Black & Veatch is dedicated and focused on the promotion of safety each and every day," said Rodman. "As we continue to Build a World of Difference for our professionals, we must continue to strive toward zero incidences."
"Black & Veatch has become a permanent fixture at our safety awards event. Their extraordinary safety rating has once again surpassed our stringent criteria," said Thomsen. "We (Liberty Mutual) are proud to work with an organization like Black & Veatch that is committed to the promotion, practice and continuous improvement of the safety and health conditions nationwide."
The Gold Safety Award is the third award that Black & Veatch has received in the last six years. Liberty Mutual carries Black & Veatch's Workers' Compensation insurance as well as the company's other commercial insurance lines.
Liberty Mutual has more than 90 years of experience serving the commercial market and provides a comprehensive array of property and casualty insurance products and offers loss prevention and risk and disability management services. Liberty Mutual ranks 142nd on Fortune 500's list of the largest U.S. corporations.
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch Corp. is a global engineering, construction and consulting company specializing in infrastructure development in the fields of energy, water and information.
Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch serves its clients with conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, information technology, environmental, security design and consulting, and management consulting services.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., the employee-owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. Black & Veatch is ranked 80th on the Forbes "500 Largest Private Companies in the U.S." listing for 2001. The company's Web site address is www.bv.com.
