Erland Wins Gold S.T.E.P. Safety Award

Tom Blesso, ECI Sr. VP & 2018 GCI chair; Laurie Webber, ECI asst. dir. of safety; Clarence Reid, ECI safety director; and John Anderson, ABC MA chair.

Burlington, MA – Erland Construction recently was named a Gold Safety, Training, and Evaluation Process (S.T.E.P.) award recipient by Associated Builders and Contractors of Massachusetts (ABC), and the Gould Construction Institute (GCI), ABC’s training affiliate.

S.T.E.P. is a national ABC program that provides safety benchmarking and improvement tools that have been shown to dramatically improve safety performance among participating companies. Established in 1969, S.T.E.P. was developed and written by contractors, for contractors. Companies measure their safety performance and policies through a review of 20 key components with a goal of enhancing safety programs and reducing jobsite incident rates.

The awards are presented annually to ABC member companies with exceptional safety records, and this year’s applicant pool was very competitive, with 58 companies recognized for their outstanding commitment to jobsite safety. Applicants are evaluated on a number of statistical factors such as incident rates, lost time, and OSHA recordables.

The S.T.E.P. Awards were given at the 14th Annual ABC/GCI Safety & Education Dinner held May 17 at the Burlington Marriott. The banquet is its premier annual event. Over the past four decades, Erland has received both gold and platinum levels of this award as part of its ongoing efforts to evolve its quality safety program.

“A contractor’s most valuable resource is their workers. There is nothing more important than jobsite safety,” said GCI President Barbara Lagergren. “This year’s S.T.E.P. award recipients deserve each and every accolade they received by continuing to raise the standards of safety, training, and education throughout the construction industry.”