The National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee Inc. is pleased to congratulate the winners of the 10th Annual Zero Injury Safety Awards (ZISA).

The ZISA Gala was held on Thursday, October 28 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. Sixty-three awards were presented, accounting for more than 10 million injury-free hours worked in calendar year 2009. Each award recognizes an alliance between owner-clients, signatory contractors and local and international unions who worked together in a tripartite fashion to achieve zero injuries on their projects.

"The winners' hard work, cooperation and dedication to the zero injury philosophy proves once again that union construction is the safest and best option on the market," said Steve Lindauer, Impartial Secretary and CEO of the NMAPC.

The highest honor of the evening went to The State Group Industrial (USA) Limited, Alcoa Inc. and the Southwestern Indiana Building Trades Council. The tripartite alliance was awarded the ZISA Silver Star Award for more than 791,000 injury-free work hours performed at the Warrick Generating Station in Newburgh, Indiana.

Three additional Silver Stars were awarded. The tripartite recipients were:

• Enerfab, American Electric Power and the East Central Ohio Building Trades Council for more than 592,000 injury-free work hours performed at the Conesville Power Plant in Conesville, Ohio.
• Solid Platforms, BP Products North America and the Indiana/Kentucky Regional Council of Carpenters Northern Office for more than 539,000 injury-free work hours performed at the Whiting Refinery in Whiting, Indiana.
• Enerfab, First Energy Corp. and the Upper Ohio Valley Building Trades Council for more than 534,000 injury-free work hours performed at the W.H. Sammis Plant in Jefferson, Ohio.

A complete list of winners is available here.

The 10th Annual ZISA Gala was also a time for reflection on a decade of accomplishments. Emmitt Nelson, one of the foremost advocates of the zero injury philosophy, was presented with a special award for his pioneering efforts to create injury-free workplaces across the country.

"Emmitt has been, and continues to be, a tireless advocate for the zero injury philosophy," said Lindauer. "When he retired from Shell Oil Company in 1992, he devoted himself full-time to spreading the message and convincing owner-clients, contractors and unions that an injury-free workplace wasn't just a myth or some utopian idea. It's safe to say that Emmitt's hard work, commitment and passion have pushed the zero injury concept to the forefront of the construction and industrial maintenance industries."

The keynote speaker for the evening was Lt. General Russel Honoré (Ret.), the Commander of Joint Task Force Katrina in 2005. Known for his no-nonsense leadership philosophy and his memorable phrase "Don't get stuck on stupid," Honoré delivered a vivid, patriotic speech that brought a standing ovation from the crowd. He outlined the principles necessary to lead through unexpected crises and emphasized the importance of keeping safety first and foremost in the minds of everyone on the job. Honoré also congratulated the ZISA winners for their outstanding commitment to the zero injury philosophy.

"We celebrated a milestone," Lindauer said of the event. "Almost everyone at the ZISA Gala played a part in a decade's worth of outstanding effort from union contractors, their customers and tens of thousands of union craft workers. I look forward to the next ten years, and I'm confident we can achieve even greater things."

Photos from the event will be available at http://nmapc.org/zisa/gallery/ by November 12.

Applications for the 11th Annual Zero Injury Safety Awards will be accepted from Jan. 1, 2011 through May 15, 2011.

If you have any questions about ZISA, please contact David Acord at (703) 524-3336 x124 or dacord@tauc.org.

October 31, 2010