While establishing itself as an industry leader in turnaround, specialty and maintenance services, JV Industrial Companies (JVIC), headquartered in La Porte, Texas, also holds one of the industry’s best safety records. Safety is always a top priority, and the company continues to implement best practice tactics to sharpen its safety focus.

During the past four years, the number of man-hours JVIC has logged has significantly increased while the company’s total recordable injury rate (TRIR) has, on average, declined. In 2006, JVIC logged 8.7 million total man-hours. The company’s TRIR was 0.21 — a decrease of 67 percent from 2005, thus exhibiting the company’s commitment to a safe workplace throughout the entire organization.

JVIC credits its exemplary safety record to its behavior-based safety program (BBS), which the company formally implemented in July 2004. By definition, a behavior-based safety program is a process that analyzes why people behave one way over another in order to design and implement the necessary consequences so that improved adherence to safe work practices can be achieved.

Observations are a cornerstone to a successful BBS program. Accurate observations allow JVIC to identify undesirable work behaviors and implement safety-improvement strategies to manage or eliminate the undesired behavior. Using a pinpointing process to communicate the results of the observations and behaviors, JVIC safety team members suggest solutions, facilitate feedback and build agreements to improve safety between the involved parties.

According to JVIC President and Co-Founder Joe Vardell, “At all our project locations, safety is driven by leadership, managed by values, executed by employees and hands, and becomes better through continuous attention to details.” 

To drive home Vardell’s point, JVIC field safety professionals distributed hard hat stickers during the month of July to all field personnel that state: “I have the responsibility and the authority to stop any unsafe act or job.” Discussions about what this policy means occur during shift change meetings or as supervisors individually distribute stickers to personnel.

JVIC’s dedication to safety is readily recognized by top industry authorities. In 2004 it received the Houston Business Roundtable’s “Safety Excellence Award” for safety performance among specialty contractors. In 2005 and 2006, the company was awarded 15 NPRA safety awards for projects completed across the United States, and clients like Dow, ExxonMobil and Lyondell/Equistar have all recognized JVIC with safety performance awards.

JVIC ‘CAREs’ about safety
This past June, in celebration of National Safety Month, JVIC continued its commitment to having one of the industry’s best safety records by introducing the CARE program. CARE stands for Correct At-Risks and Recognize Excellence and is part of a refocused effort on the company’s BBS observation process. A new companywide CARE observation checklist better facilitates the observation portion of the process.

“It’s appropriate that our new observation program is known by the acronym CARE, because we do care about the safety of all our employees, hands and clients,” said JVIC Safety Director Charlie Simonson. “Our intent is not to be safety cops. It is to involve each of our craftsmen in the safety process and to foster a culture of safe work practices, where we take personal responsibility for ourselves and watch out for one another, too.”

In the past, the company integrated its observation processes with clients’ programs at each jobsite. JVIC’s CARE observation process marks the first time the company has introduced an observation checklist that is standard to all jobsites.

Starting with a pilot program in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, craftsmen are asked to make one observation per week using a CARE checklist that outlines the safety observations and actions taken.

“The individual observer is asked to do two things: either correct the at-risk behavior if he or she sees something wrong or recognize the person for ‘all safe’ behavior,” said Simonson. “This is not an audit process; it’s a way to promote craft intervention for improving safety awareness and performance.”

The checklist cards are collected and shared during weekly safety meetings at jobsites, as well as entered into a database to help determine trends and guide preventive safety actions. Incentives are offered to hands completing quality observation cards.

“The goal is to improve our hazard recognition,” Simonson said. “BBS is a thought process in which you ask, ‘What are the steps to do this job safely, what could go wrong, and what will I do to protect myself?’” 

In addition to the CARE effort, JVIC has re-emphasized its job hazard analysis and task safety analysis efforts. Since January, the company has added more job safety analysis/task safety analysis skills in training programs for foremen and supervisors. The goal is to identify the steps of a task, the hazards associated with it, and the steps to eliminate those hazards and keep all workers safe.

Accreditation program keeps JVIC safe and up-to-date
Another way JVIC ensures clients receive high-quality services in a safe manner is by certifying its craftsmen. The company has supported an accreditation program since its start nine years ago.

JVIC is accredited by the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) to administer a formal written assessment of craft skills. Training Manager Gary Jennings serves as the primary administrator for NCCER, and the company conducts assessment testing in Deer Park, Texas; and Rancho Dominguez and Benicia, Calif.

JVIC requires that a person have 42 months experience before an assessment. More than 50 JVIC safety staff members are Construction Site Safety Technician (CSST) certified. This is a 90-hour training program that meets specific NCCER accreditation requirements.

Currently, JVIC has 718 boilermakers and 1,112 pipefitters who have been NCCER certified, and this number continues to grow.

“Many of our clients want to have NCCER-certified craftsmen on the jobsite, and some want us to take it to the next level of certified-plus, where we evaluate our craftsmen for hands-on skills,” Jennings said.

The company plans to open a training center in La Porte later this year, which will feature testing stations for certified-plus evaluations.

As the company’s Industrial Constructors group expands into the civil construction field, JVIC is developing an operator evaluation and certification process on construction-related skills similar to its current certification process for welders and pipefitters. The Mobile Equipment Operator certifications will include loader/backhoe, bulldozer, skidsteer loader and track excavator skills.

Turnaround daily bulletins
Keeping safety interesting and engaging during shift change meetings is the primary charge of the “Turnaround Daily” safety bulletins. Each day, every JVIC jobsite throughout the world receives a printed bulletin featuring guidelines, tips and training materials that are ready for discussion. Everyone involved in JVIC operations is invited to contribute items to the bulletin, which keeps topics fresh and meaningful.

According to Safety Director Brian Hinnenkamp, feedback about the bulletin from both JVIC crews and clients has been positive.

“The management at Lyondell has even taken time to write a letter complimenting JVIC about the initiative,” said Hinnenkamp.

The introduction of CARE to its already successful BBS program, expanding NCCER accreditation efforts and circulating daily turnaround safety bulletins are just some of the best practices that JVIC has instituted to maintain a safety-focused and injury-free culture.

For a complete list of the 15 JVIC locations in the United States, Aruba, St. Croix and Trinidad, visit JVIC’s Web site at www.jvic.com or call (281) 842-9353.