Austal USA received two awards from the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) for commitment to improving safety and health in the workplace. Austal USA President and COO, Joe Rella’ Health, Safety and Environmental Manager, Chris Blankenfeld and Vice President of External Affairs, Bill Pfister attended the SCA General Membership Meeting in Washington DC at the end of April where they were presented with the SCA Award for Excellence in Safety and the Award for Improvement in Safety.
The Award for Excellence in Safety is presented to shipyards that complete all four quarters of their survey and have an end-of-year total recordable industry rate (TRIR) that is below the aggregate SCA TRIR. Austal’s 2009 TRIR was 56 percent below the SCA TRIR.
The Award for Improvement in Safety recognizes shipyards that complete all four quarters of their survey without a recordable fatality and have reduced their TRIR by 10 percent or more over the year. Austal reduced their TRIR by 72 percent from the previous year.