Associated Builders and Contractors of Delaware has awarded Nickle Electrical with a 2013 Platinum STEP Award for safety. The STEP (Safety Training and Evaluation Process) program is designed to support ABC members with development and improvement of safety and training efforts. The awards are given in five levels based on your safety program—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond.

Nickle Electrical has won a STEP Award every year since 2006 and this is the second year in a row the company has received Platinum. This year’s awards dinner was held on May 2 at Deerfield Country Club in Newark.

“It gives me a great deal of pleasure to receive yet another ABC STEP Award,” said Nickle Vice President of Operations Jeromy Newton. “It truly shows Nickle’s commitment to the safety of our employees.”

Nickle Co-Op Kyle Speed also received recognition at the event, accepting an ABC Delaware Student Award. It is presented to students from the New Castle County Vo-Tech School District enrolled in the construction trade curriculum and have shown outstanding academic achievement and completed a successful co-op program with an ABC member.

“Also, I would like to congratulate Kyle Speed and his parents for their dedication to the co-op program and we look forward to having Kyle as a part of the Nickle team,” Newton said.

On March 13, Nickle Electrical reached a remarkable milestone in company history. Through continuing education classes and perpetual execution of safety procedures, Nickle employees have worked one million man-hours without a lost-time accident. It is an achievement reached thanks to the company’s dedicated personnel who work hard to keep themselves and others out of danger.

“One million hours proves that we can get the job done safely and on time,” said Nickle Safety Director Mike Anderson, CHST. “At the end of the day it’s about sending our employees home safely while keeping the company profitable.”

Within the past three years, Nickle’s experience modification rate (EMR) has been cut nearly in half to .693, lower than industry average. A company’s EMR is a comparison between payroll dollars and the value of any workers’ compensation claims—the lower the EMR, the better.

To continue successfully avoiding injuries such as shocks, burns, and falls, a Safety Plan for 2013 has been put into place. Strategies for this year’s plan include distributing a follow-up safety perception survey to all employees for feedback, written safety audits to be conducted by the Safety Department on a weekly basis, and implementing a company-wide “Stretch and Flex” program to reduce injuries on and off the job, lower medical costs, and enhance production.

“I am extremely proud of every employee’s commitment to safety and their devotion to looking out for the well-being of their co-workers,” said CEO/President Steve Dignan. “They should be proud of themselves; after all, they are the individuals that collectively worked the million hours.”

For more information, please contact Laura Dignan at ldignan@nickleelectrical.com

Nickle Electrical Companies was recently selected as a recipient of the 2012 Governor’s Safety Awards, co-sponsored by the Delaware Contractors Association and Delaware’s Department of Labor. This is the second year in a row that Nickle has won the award along with other outstanding contractors.

Gregory Sawka, president of the DCA, said in a letter to Nickle President/CEO Steve Dignan, that we received the award “in recognition of those firms which emphasize safety as they bring distinction, skill and integrity to the construction industry.”

The accolade will be awarded at a luncheon on Friday, March 8 at Timothy’s Restaurant on the Wilmington Riverfront.

Nickle has reached it’s 1,112th day without a lost time accident, a new company safety record. In 2010, Nickle hired Certified Health and Safety Technician (CHST) Mike Anderson as Safety Director and has since been taking proactive steps to improve its safety record. Anderson successfully instituted NFPA 70E Safe Work Procedures, OSHA 30-Hour for project managers, a safety incentive program, and a safety committee. He continues to visit every Nickle job site to locate potential hazards and reinforce these measures to avoid injury. The cominbation of these methods has made Nickle one of the leading companies in employee safety. Thank you to all employees for your hard work and dedication to keeping Nickle safe and successful.