Company Takes Home Second Place in Building Division; Mike Harney Honored with Individual Safety Effort of a Project Superintendent Award
San Jose, Calif., Nov. 19, 2019 – Blach Construction (Blach), a full-service and award-winning commercial builder serving the Greater Bay Area and Monterey since 1970, was once again honored to have its safety program recognized at the Associated General Contractors of California (AGC CA) Construction Safety in Excellence Awards (CSEA) luncheon in October. The company received second place in the Building Division (under 400,000 worker hours) and veteran Superintendent Mike Harney was awarded the Individual Safety Effort of a Project Superintendent Award. In 2018, Blach received the third-place award in the same Building Division category.
“Safety is not simply a category we check off for each of our projects – it permeates our culture and every aspect of what we do at Blach,” said Dan Rogers, Blach president. “We are the sum of our people and truly believe that to be successful, a healthy and safe work environment must be incorporated into the fabric of our daily operations. I am honored to work with people like Mike Harney, and so many others within the organization, from leadership and safety managers to our project and office teams who all prioritize these values. It’s humbling to be recognized by an industry leader for our work in this area.”
Now in its 32nd year, AGC CA’s CSEA program recognizes contractors and associated companies for their commitment to safe work practices through management commitment and employee involvement. Blach’s detailed safety program operates cross-functionally, assessing concerns and possible solutions during all phases of construction. Ongoing site-specific safety education workshops are held for every worker deployed on job sites. Continually striving to lead the way in the industry, Blach leverages state-of-the-art technology and building techniques to promote safety, including employing prefabrication where and when appropriate to minimize disruption and maximize safety on job sites. To this end, the company created its own innovative building solution, Folia, which has seen much success. Blach’s impressive .46 experience modification rate for 2019 and the fact that more than 3M hours have passed since its last lost workday are evidence of its best-in-class safety program.
A 30-year construction industry veteran, Harney is Certified in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 30 and is a Safety Trained Superintendent (STS). With an approach to safety that prioritizes planning rather than policing, Harney ensures his teams are well educated on the most up-to-date and best practices. He recently completed a two-year, highly complex project for the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA), the four-story, cast-in-place concrete Bechtel Family Center for Ocean Education and Leadership (Bechtel Center). Faced with several obstacles, including significant and varied regulatory requirements, an intricate design in a confined location and serious public safety concerns, Harney and his team safely completed the building to the highest technical standards and construction quality.
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