Rosendin Electric, Inc., Risk Management Team Honored for Effective Loss Control Program

Release Date: November 4, 2009
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Risk Management Team of Rosendin Electric, Inc., was presented with the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award at the 29th IRMI Construction Risk Conference. Rosendin Chairman/CEO Tom Sorley along with team members Sharon Barowsky and Marty Rouse accepted the award on behalf of the team. The honor was bestowed on the group for devising a safety program that focused on shifting the organization’s attitude from “safety is someone else’s responsibility” to “safety is everyone’s responsibility.” This culture shift produced tremendous results. From 2006 to 2008, the organization’s workers compensation claims costs shrunk by 50 percent, even though man-hours worked increased 51 percent and the number of geographic locations where projects were under way doubled. As a result, Rosendin saw its experience rating modification factor—which reflects past losses and has a major impact on workers compensation premiums—drop from .90 to .61 over that same time frame.

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award is presented annually by IRMI to recognize a demonstrated commitment to improving construction risk management through the implementation of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient risk management techniques.

The panel of industry experts selected by IRMI to judge the award submissions made insightful comments about the winning submission. “This is an outstanding program! The organization took a very comprehensive proactive approach that could be easily used by others in the construction industry," offered one judge. Another judge remarked that "No fancy data bases, not a marked increase in safety staff, seems these measures implemented are relatively low in cost but drive great cost savings!" A third judge commented, "The dramatic results in declining losses as well as insurance premium savings clearly demonstrate the 'dividends earned’ in making the investment in a safety culture."

The other finalists for the award were Jim Van Briesen, Tim Jagielski, Loren Whitney, Julie Vernetti, Casey Long, and Lynn Ulrich, the Risk Management Department of William Charles Construction Company; Allan M. Yokoyama, Safety Administrator, on behalf of Albert C. Kobayashi, Inc.; Jennifer Mays, Director of Risk Management, Shawmut Design and Construction; and Stan Burton, Project Superintendent, and Tyran Shivers, Project Manager, Turner Construction Company, and Eddie Dyer, Project Manager, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

The 30th IRMI Construction Risk Conference will be held November 7–11, 2010, in Nashville, TN. For more information, visit www.IRMI.com or contact International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI) at 12222 Merit Drive, Suite 1450, Dallas, TX, 75251, phone 800–827–4242, in Dallas, 972–960–7693, or fax 972–371–5120.