Gary E. Bird Horizon Award

The award is open to all full-time business professionals charged with managing construction risks for their employers who have been at their current positions for at least 3 years. At the time of application, this individual must be involved in the development of a construction-oriented risk management technique, process, or program that is innovative and effective.

Candidates may be nominated or may nominate themselves by completing a submission packet. To ensure impartiality, the submission itself must not contain any reference to the candidate or the candidate's organization. The completed submission must be received by IRMI on or before August 30, 2021. Use your submission checklist, and return it with your submission.

Submissions will be accepted for techniques, processes, or programs applicable in one of the following categories. 

Information to evaluate the nominated candidate's technique, process, or program must be provided by completing the submission packet electronically in a Word file and returning it along with the candidate's professional biography. Each section must not exceed 5 pages in length, and the total submission document must be less than 20 pages, excluding charts, illustrations, and other accompanying documentation. Required items include the following.

• Section One: an overview that provides information about the candidate and the candidate's organization, along with a concise overview of the technique, process, or program
• Section Two: description of the innovation
• Section Three: explain the need in the construction industry that the innovation addresses
• Section Four: describe the innovation's potential or actual impact on the construction industry
• Executed publishing agreement

Eligible submissions will be judged by a panel composed of leading construction industry specialists, which will likely include insurance brokers, insurance company representatives, and risk management professionals representing owners and contractors. Submissions will be evaluated on the following criteria.

• Innovativeness
• Adaptability
• Effectiveness
• Current Applicability

Every eligible submission received will be judged individually by each member of the judging panel based on the submission criteria outlined above and assigned a numerical score. All scores assigned to a submission by the judging panel will then be averaged to develop a composite score and determine a winner.

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented at the 42nd IRMI Construction Risk Conference (CRC) to the Jordan Foster Construction risk management team. 

Their winning submission, “Stop! Collaborate and Listen: Using Technology To Create Intentional Communication Channels To Minimize Risk, Increase Productivity, and Achieve Performance Excellence in the Construction Industry,”  detailed the development and implementation of innovative enterprise risk management initiatives that resulted in significant improvement in the company’s key performance indicators, including total cost of risk, loss frequency and severity rates, and experience rating. 

Through the lens of risk management, the team created three technology-based strategies to improve and measure workforce engagement and communication, addressing risks that can have devastating consequences to the construction industry if they go unsolved.

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented at the 41st IRMI Construction Risk Conference (CRC) to Donna Nardella, national director of planning for Suffolk Construction.

The winning submission highlighted an investigative risk management program called nPlan, which is an artificial intelligence-led forecasting platform that approaches schedule risk analysis from a new angle. The innovative algorithm has so far been trained with ~450,000 schedules and applies machine learning techniques to derive risk insights that empower proactive intervention to improve project performance.

Each month, Suffolk tracked P-values from the nPlan platform to measure the reliability of the project finishing by the required completion date. The program evaluated top forecasted threats and opportunities in a truly agile way for Suffolk to investigate and find solutions.

The output of the program over the course of a year was able to help Suffolk improve the duration accuracy for the Hale Hospital construction in Boston, Massachusetts, within 11 days of the planned end date by applying risk mitigation insights.

The North American Contractor Certification (NACC) Program received the 2020 Gary E. Bird Horizon Award at the IRMI Construction Risk [Virtual] Conference (CRC). Program Technical Director Ben Beeler accepted the prestigious honor on behalf of the Architectural Glass and Metal Certification Council (AGMCC).

The NACC Certification Program was developed with input from architects, engineers, general contractors, glazing contractors, consultants, specifications specialists, and glass industry manufacturers and suppliers. All aspects of the program are managed and administered by an independent third-party organization, and it is governed by a committee composed of the same cross-section of industry experts and stakeholders that helped develop it. The program is sponsored by the AGMCC, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, public benefit organization.

Mr. Beeler's winning submission, "A Certification Program Providing Consistency, Quality, and Safety Benchmarks," highlighted the program's comprehensive certification process, which assesses contractor proficiency in five areas: business practices, safety, glazing processes, contract administration, and quality management.

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented at the 39th IRMI Construction Risk Conference (CRC) to Dan Saddler, vice president of safety for Structure Tone Southwest. Mr. Saddler's winning submission, "Enhancing the Behavior-Based Safety Process," detailed his revitalization of his organization's behavior-based safety program.

A key component of the program was the development of a tool that integrates technology and video, which pioneered a new way to improve critical daily safety conversations on the jobsite. Using this approach, Structure Tone lowered its incident rate by 25 percent even though man-hours increased by 30 percent.

Other finalists for the award were Lois Hamilton, safety and operations coordinator on behalf of TEXO Association, for her submission "Reimagining the Building Process," and Scott Root, project director, The Kapture Group, a Kitchell partner, for "Unifying the Construction Industry through Standardizing Training Delivery of Safety First."

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented at the 38th IRMI Construction Risk Conference (CRC) to Michael Feigin and Jeffrey Hutchens of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Mr. Feigin and Mr. Hutchens were honored for their innovative loss prevention program designed to eliminate construction site fires on wood frame multifamily projects.

"The new four-pronged approach being recommended appears to hit the issue from several angles, such that it has built in backup approaches to ensure that the risk is mitigated," said Travelers Vice President of Construction Jennifer Lee. "Bringing all four risk mitigation pieces together is innovative, and the company worked to create one or two steps, such as the fire retardant material and better use of monitors, to come up with this all inclusive approach. Their approach goes above and beyond the immediate addressing of the issue."

The other finalists for the award were Scott Root of Kitchell for his submission, "Reimaging the Building Process," and Neff Ortiz of Nations Roof, LLC for his submission, "Protecting Employees from Elevation Falls."

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented at the 37th IRMI Construction Risk Conference (CRC) to Shawn Connick and Ashley Hogue of Charles Pankow Builders, Ltd. This award recognized the committee for their innovative construction industry hazards booklet.

"Pankow showed that with some significant focus, any company could take the concepts of serious injury or fatality and apply it to their own company by refocusing the safety program," said Travelers Vice President of Construction Jennifer Lee. "Their focus on the exposures that could potentially drive their most serious losses is a process that any construction company could use."

The other finalists for the award were Sam Hatchell of Jaynes Corporation and Kevin King with Turner Construction Company.

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented at the 36th IRMI Construction Risk Conference (CRC) to the Construction Subcommittee of the Workplace Task Force; National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. This award recognized the committee for their innovative suicide prevention program. 

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented to Jayme Mayo, physician assistant/wellness director of Nabholz Construction Corporation. The honor, presented at the 35th IRMI Construction Risk Conference, recognized Ms. Mayo for her innovative wellness program. 

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented to Michael W. Bennett, vice president of HSE & HR, and Scott Knowlen, corporate health, safety, security, and environmental manager, of Cianbro Corporation. The honor, presented at the 34th IRMI Construction Risk Conference, recognized the team for its innovative loss control program.

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award was presented to the Duininck, Inc., team of Rick Maursetter, risk manager; Lynn Skordahl, RN, wellness coordinator; and Cindy Vander Well, benefits manager. The honor, presented at the 33rd IRMI Construction Risk Conference, recognized the team for its innovative employee wellness program.

Casey S. Halsey, executive vice president and chief risk officer of JE Dunn Construction Company, was honored with the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award at the 32nd IRMI Construction Risk Conference. Mr. Halsey accepted the award on behalf of the JE Dunn Construction Company Risk Management Department, which submitted the winning entry, "An 'All In' Approach to Enterprise Risk." 

Bob Johnson and Deb Boyd of Granite Construction Incorporated were honored with the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award at the 31st IRMI Construction Risk Conference for their submission, "Lean Construction Leads to Workers Compensation Reduction."

Shawn Helmer and Kristin Heizman, on behalf of the APi Group Safety and Risk Management Professionals, received the 2010 Gary E. Bird Horizon Award at the 30th IRMI Construction Risk Conference for their submission, "Striving Towards Excellence and Professionalism in Safety—STEPS Program."

The Risk Team of Rosendin Electric, Inc., Sharon Barowsky, Marty Rouse, and Nick Zygaczenko, received the 2009 Gary E. Bird Horizon Award at the 29th IRMI Construction Risk Conference for their submission, "Loss Management with L.O.V.E.: Living Our Values Everyday."

The Senior Safety Team of Comfort Systems USA, Andrew D. Estrada, Rusty Buller, and Gordon Cazella, received the 2008 Gary E. Bird Horizon Award at the 28th IRMI Construction Risk Conference for their program, "Lessons in Leadership—Creating an Accident-Free Environment by Developing Leadership Skills for Front Line Supervisors."

The Risk/Safety Management Department of CF Jordan LP was honored at the 27th IRMI Construction Risk Conference with the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award. Rob Hutchison, CF Jordan's chief financial officer, and Grace Gandarilla, CF Jordan safety/risk manager, accepted the award on behalf of the department. The award was bestowed on the group for implementing a fully integrated risk/safety management process that improved the company's overall performance in the following areas: safety, quality assurance, and wellness. The impact of the process has produced an estimated direct cost savings for workers compensation over the period of 2002–2006 of more than $2.5 million. Additionally, workers compensation claims severity for the organization is down 85 percent from 2004.

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award is presented annually by IRMI to recognize a demonstrated commitment to improving construction risk management through the implementation of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient risk management techniques.

The panel of industry experts selected by IRMI to judge the award submissions made insightful comments about the winning submission. "The concept of weaving workers compensation, quality assurance and wellness together is creative and, I think, appropriate!" offered one judge. Another judge remarked that "Behavior based programs are becoming best practice. The difficulty has been the actual measurement and feedback loop to push performance. They seem to have figured this out." A third judge commented, "This approach deals with three current issues plaguing the (construction) industry; health of the aging workforce, degradation in quality, and maintaining a safe work environment with the growing workforce."

The other finalists for the award were Charles A. Bacon, III, president/CEO and safety leader, Limbach Facility Services LLC; Andy Estrada, vice president risk management and safety, Comfort Systems USA, Inc. (on behalf of the Comfort Systems USA, Inc., Senior Safety Team); and Gene Patrick, construction safety mManager, Oregon Health and Science University.

Faced with the need to change the way it operated in the workplace as well as modify the culture permeating the roofing business, the DRI Companies completely restructured their loss prevention and control techniques and processes. A significantly reduced workers compensation experience modifier provided a substantial reduction in workers compensation premiums over a 5-year period in spite of a tremendously increased payroll. The marketing clout from the lower modifier contributed to substantial revenue growth. But higher revenues and profits were not the only rewards.

These efforts are also now lauded throughout the construction risk industry, with the companies' receipt of the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award. Alan J. Ruben, chief financial officer of DRI Companies, was presented with the award at the 26th IRMI Construction Risk Conference in San Diego. He was recognized for implementing numerous safety initiatives, policy changes, and the development of a patented tool to make the workplace safer.

The Gary E. Bird Horizon Award is presented annually by IRMI to recognize a demonstrated commitment to improving construction risk management through the implementation of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient risk management techniques.

The most effective and innovative feature of the winning submission is the invention and implementation of the WhirlieBird^TM fall arrest system (see photo at left and below right), in direct response to the companies' commitment to eliminate all chances of falls occurring. Unlike the rope grab system more commonly used in the roofing industry, the WhirlieBird^TM does not present its own set of risks from injury to the person wearing it and others nearby.

The other tool that contributed to the companies' success is the tri-cable system, which they developed to prevent falls on flat roofing projects.

Company officials note that these devices do increase costs, but the long-term benefit far outweighs the initial expense. Also, customers are beginning to demand use of the WhirlieBird^TM, adding to its marketing potential.

These tools are one facet of the companies' six-point plan. Other concepts, which are readily transferable to other companies and industries, include the following.

Learning/Training. It is imperative for all employees to understand the actual safety precautions to be implemented as well as the reasons for implementing them. Policies and procedures will constantly evolve as enhancements and refinements are discovered.

Rewards/Positive Reinforcement. All personnel involved in safety and claims management are eligible for monetary reward programs.

Punitive/Enforcement. Punitive action, up to and including termination, are what the companies call the "stick" portion of the "carrot and the stick" approach, with the expectation that all employees share the companies' values in this area. Still, company officials say the focus is on building strength in hiring and training.

Cost Control. Although the goal is zero claims, there is also as much emphasis on cost containment when an injury does occur as there is on preventing an incident.

Risk Sharing. Recognizing the state of the California workers compensation market, the companies' management was willing to take on a substantial portion of the risk.

The panel of industry experts selected by IRMI to judge the award submissions made perceptive comments about the winning submission. "This program is well rounded but not complicated, and any contractor could implement this accountability-based program," offered one judge. Another judge remarked that "to drive down claim costs the way this organization did is truly remarkable. A reduction in workers compensation claims from $1.4 million in Fiscal 2000 to $258K in Fiscal 2006 is amazing!" "Realizing that safety practices in their industry were not the best, they thought outside the box and created a new fall arrest device to help them achieve a safer work environment," commented a third judge.

The other finalists for the award were Rick Callor, corporate safety training director, Washington Group International (on behalf of the Washington Group International Safety Training Team); Jeff Hanesworth, corporate risk manager, KS Industries, LP (on behalf of the KS Industries LP Team); Rick Maursetter, risk manager, Duininick Companies (on behalf of the Minnesota Highway Equipment Contractor Training Group); and Marsha K. Rinehart, executive vice president, Kokosing Construction Company, Inc.

The risk management team of Zachry Construction Corporation was honored at the 25th IRMI Construction Risk Conference with the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award. The award was accepted November 9, 2005 in Las Vegas by team members Warren Davis, Susan LaBrie, Phil Pascale, and Susan Staff on behalf of Zachry Construction Corporation for the development and implementation of a construction-driven project planning process that optimizes project execution over the course of a construction project. Use of this process has consistently and significantly improved Zachry's bottom line.

The panel of industry experts, selected by IRMI to judge the award submissions, made insightful comments about the winning submission. "This is a complex and integrated risk management process that effectively has reduced the cost of risk for the company," offered one judge. Another judge remarked that this is a "well- integrated process involving all aspects of the project life cycle. They are attacking the entire process, not just one aspect of the problem. The plan is very well structured to have a short and long impact on cost and project efficiency."

The other finalists for the award were Mike Nicholson and Sandy Monday of Washington Group International, who designed and implemented innovative safety programs that have had a positive impact on Washington Group International's loss experience and profitability.

The Mo-Kan Construction Industry Substance Abuse Fund was honored in 2004 at the 24th IRMI Construction Risk Conference with the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award. The award was accepted on behalf of the nonprofit Fund by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Don Greenwell, and Secretary-Treasurer, Les Williams. The Fund received the award for its development and oversight of a Construction Industry Substance Abuse Program (CISAP), a comprehensive construction-industry drug and alcohol testing program that includes, in part, random testing. The objective of CISAP is to improve worksite safety by keeping drugs from playing a role in on-the-job accidents, and it is working. Annual industry savings from the program are estimated to be in excess of 300 percent of the annual cost of the CISAP.

The panel of industry experts selected by IRMI to judge the award submissions was very complimentary of the winning program. "This program will save money and lives" was offered by one judge. Another judge remarked, "If this program can influence the industry, it will be a milestone in safety."

The other finalists for the awards were Rick Callor, Environmental, Safety, and Health Manager, Washington Group International Inc., who was nominated for developing and implementing an innovative safety training program that greatly improved his employer's safety record while reducing insurance costs; and R.A. "Dick" Davis, Project Manager, Knight Jacobs Joint Venture, who was nominated for his design and implementation of a creative safety plan that engaged all the participants involved in a complex, long-term construction project.

Brian Clarke, CSP, corporate safety director, Hoffman Corporation, was honored in 2003 at the 23rd IRMI Construction Risk Conference with the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award. Mr. Clarke received the award for his design and implementation of a safety program for an owner controlled insurance program that greatly reduced Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) incident rates and workers compensation costs.

The comprehensive safety program phased in over the course of the project dramatically lowered the OSHA recordable rate from 8.18 to 1.92 and the OSHA lost time incident rate from .45 to 0.00. Additionally, the workers compensation direct claim cost per man-hour dropped from $0.185 to $0.015.

The panel of industry experts, selected by IRMI to judge the award submissions, made perceptive comments about the winning submission. "An outstanding program that introduced new methods and techniques that were practical and effective!" was offered one judge. Another judge remarked that the program "recognizes the interdependency of individuals in a strong safety program. Used correctly in this manner, it will have an immediate impact on behavior in the company."

The other finalist for the award was George Tinker, risk manager, Colorado Department of Transportation, who was nominated for the development and implementation of an innovative controlled insurance program that reduced the friction among the parties involved in the program.

Terry Young, ARM, vice president—safety, risk management and human resources, Southern Industrial Constructors, was honored in 2002 at the 22nd IRMI Construction Risk Conference with the Gary E. Bird Horizon Award. Mr. Young received the award for designing and implementing a very effective safety program that reduced workplace injuries and produced significant savings for his employer. The comprehensive program was designed for participation and accountability by all levels within the organization. Through the use of this program, the company's workers compensation experience modifier was reduced from 1.69 in 1992 to .61 in 2000.

The panel of industry experts, selected by IRMI to judge the award submissions, made several insightful comments about the winning program. "An excellent story of success that should be shared with the industry!" was offered by one judge. Another judge observed that the program "addresses one of the most significant needs in the industry" and that "every organization should adopt the best practices from this model to fit their needs."

The other two finalists for the award were Valerie S. Camp, AIC, corporate counsel claims and litigation, BE&K, Inc., who was nominated for developing a claims management process that required a regimented list of post-loss protocols, and Lauren M. Gregory, ARM, director, risk and insurance management, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who was nominated for her owner controlled insurance program design that introduced a high level of owner control in determining the insurance costs.

TJ Lyons of Rifenburg Construction, Inc. was honored today with the Construction Risk Management Best Practices Award for adapting the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Plan (VPP) Accreditation for use in the road construction industry. TJ modified and then implemented the VPP program on a 28 million dollar highway reconstruction and expansion project in western New York State. The project has now passed the three-year mark without a single lost workday accident.

This award was created by International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI), to recognize individuals and companies who have demonstrated a commitment to improving construction risk management and is presented each year at the IRMI Construction Risk Conference. See below for information on previous winners.

A panel of industry experts, selected by IRMI, judged the award submissions. Judges' comments about the winning submission included:

"Reached for the stars—did not settle on standard. Good message."

"The program cost was cited as $14,000 with a return cited of at least $225,000. This is quite cost effective."

"It is hard to beat the results of no lost workdays in three years of a $28 million heavy construction project."

"While the concept of working with OSHA is not unique, the inclusion of various officials, clients and vendors on the safety committee is innovative."

"This type of safety attitude should be adopted throughout the industry—the desire to pursue excellence."

"There is a need for industry participants to collaborate; owner, contractors, subs, OSHA, vendors, and field employees. This approach fosters partnering rather than confrontation. Involvement of all stakeholders to improve project costs and efficiency is the key to this program."

The other two finalists for the 2001 award were Sue Caldwell of Southern Constructors, Inc, who was nominated for her development of a safety program that revitalized the safety initiative in her organization and Daniel Karpelenia of KHS&S Contractors who was nominated for developing a comprehensive, results-oriented safety program that combined an analysis of accident data with feedback and communication from the field crews.

Paul Day of Cianbro Corporation was honored at the 20th IRMI Construction Risk Conference with the second IRMI Construction Risk Management Best Practices Award for the identification, design, and implementation of a behavior-based, continuous improvement safety process at a large, complex, and challenging bridge rehabilitation project. Paul led the project team in moving beyond traditional methods of safety management through this new safety process.

The project, the 11th Street Interchange on the Anacostia Freeway in Washington, D.C., served as a pilot project for Cianbro's rollout of its new accident prevention process. The project was finished 6 months early, logging a total of 144,300 safe hours over a 30-month period with zero recordable incidents. The process has now been implemented throughout the organization on all types of construction projects.

This award was created by International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI), to recognize individuals and companies who have demonstrated a commitment to improving construction risk management through the implementation of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient risk management techniques. In addition to recognition, winners receive complimentary registration, travel, and lodging for the next IRMI Construction Risk Conference. A panel of industry experts, selected by IRMI, judged the award submissions.

Judges' comments about the winning submission included the following.

• "This behavior-based program focuses on what is observed and not who is observed. CAPP's goal is to eliminate accidents by reducing at-risk behaviors and replacing them with safe behaviors. This process makes the program non-threatening and helps the company leap over traditional hurdles to make their safety program effective."
• "This contractor has demonstrated an understanding of more than just the economic benefits of safety in construction. The commitment to 'send each employee home in the same condition they came to work' is commendable. The contractor also reports intangible benefits in the form of helping identify new leaders within the ranks, as well as improved business relationships with project owners."
• "The program was well researched and makes very good use of some industry standards with regard to safety and management and was an outstanding combination of ideas."
• "The program is very adaptable, especially for larger contractors, but is portable to any construction environment for those willing to commit to the program and processes."
• "This program has a timeliness that should be shared with others. I'm sure many firms are struggling to find new ways to reduce injuries."

The other two finalists for the award were Jim Boone, risk manager of J.S. Alberici Construction, for developing and implementing the "Safecap" process for identifying and correcting unsafe behaviors on job sites, and the risk management team of Kent Underwood, Marleen Judge, Terry Swanson, Jeff Peterson, Jon Alexander, and Sharla Reynaga from Solutia, Inc., for the development of an interdisciplinary process to define safety requirements to be followed by all employees, contractors, and guests.

Gayle Jones of Snyder Langston and George Bragg of Bragg Crane Services were honored at the 19th IRMI Construction Risk Conference with the first IRMI Construction Risk Management Best Practices Award for their development of a highly effective crane safety program. Together, these two companies clarified and documented a set of crane safety requirements and took a firm stance on strict adherence to these standards. As a result, they have had only one minor crane accident in 8 years that produced minor property damage but no injuries.

This award was created by International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI), to recognize individuals and companies who have demonstrated a commitment to improving construction risk management through the implementation of innovative, cost-effective, and efficient risk management techniques. In addition to recognition, winners receive complimentary registration, travel, and lodging to the next IRMI Construction Risk Conference.

"We all know that, too often, risk managers only get attention when things go wrong. Our objectives in creating this award are to acknowledge some individuals for 'things done right' and to encourage others in the industry to be innovative in developing their own 'best practices,'" explained Jack Gibson, IRMI president, to the 1,100 attendees of the Conference. "The crane safety program developed by Snyder Langston and Bragg Crane Services embodies the type of best practice that I hope to honor every year at this Conference. Their willingness to share their program with the rest of the industry is to be applauded."

A panel of industry experts, selected by IRMI, judged the award submissions. Judges' comments about the winning submission included:

"This firm should be commended for identifying a problem and turning it into a competitive advantage for their firm. The firm should see positive public relations, safer job sites, reduced workers compensation and insurance costs, and, therefore, higher profits. My hope is that this firm shares their program with the rest of the construction world."

"The Mobile Crane Safety Manual Policies and Procedures is an effective loss control tool. This loss control technique is highlighted by the accident that occurred at Miller Park in Milwaukee. The cost of that accident should have insurance carriers drooling for clients who employ this technique and should reward them with credits on their liability policies!"

"They took on a serious issue with a different approach and wouldn't back down until others saw things their way. This is an excellent program that addresses an important issue."

The other two finalists for the award were Jim Boone, risk manager of J.S. Alberici Construction, for developing and implementing the "Safecap" process for identifying and correcting unsafe behaviors on job sites and Jeffrey M. Lange, safety and risk manager for Kitchell Corporation, for the development, implementation, and refinement-over a 10-year period-of a sophisticated process for managing subcontract risks.