Our Actions Speak Louder Than Our Words Construction companies regularly communicate the importance of job-site safety. It is laid in their handbooks and on their websites and site signage. You will learn of their concern for the well-being of their employees and the general public; how they intend to minimize incidents and implement the safest work-site possible. On paper, everyone puts safety first. And yet the national statistics for the number of job-site accidents continues to rise. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that fatal injuries on construction sites increased by 8% in 2014 alone. In addition, hundreds of thousands of workers are injured on the job, resulting in the filing of an incredible, one million workers’ compensation claims a year. At HGC, we too say that we take safety very seriously – only our actions speak louder than our words. While the number of job-site incidents continues to rise, HGC continues to operate far below the national average rate of incidents. No client wants injuries on their job. We’re here to ensure that. “Our number one priority on the job-site is sending our workers home safely at the end of the day,” says Josh Shifflet, Director of Safety. Not only do we make it a priority to keep our workers safe, we also look to their long-term well-being, aiming to get them to retirement in one piece, ready to enjoy a fulfilling life with their families. We build our safety policies and systems for the betterment of our employees and, in turn, our clients. This level of trust is earned through being who we say we are day-in and day-out. At HGC, we truly do hold ourselves to the highest standards of safety. Doing so helped us attain the coveted Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star designation from OSHA. HGC is among only a handful of Ohio-based companies with this distinction. This level of advanced preparation and pre-task planning has won us not only many awards, but also the reputation as a trusted construction partner. Most of all, it has benefited the well being of our employees. Thus from safety to cost, and from quality to schedule – choosing HGC is the best and often least expensive insurance policy anyone could buy on a project. This article first appeared in our June 2016 Newsletter.