Staff
Skanska USA Building forms voluntary partnership for store construction worker safety
Skanska USA Building Inc. has formed a strategic partnership with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) for an IKEA store currently under construction in New Haven, Conn.
Skanska, together with OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program for Worker Safety and Health (OSPP), entered into an extended, voluntary, cooperative relationship to eliminate construction hazards and achieve an optimal level of worker safety and health at the job site.
Skanska is the construction manager for the 306,000-square-foot store scheduled for opening this summer on 20 acres at the intersection of the I-95 and I-91 interchange. The store will showcase nearly 10,000 items, 50 different room settings, five model homes, a supervised children's play area, as well as a 300-seat restaurant that serves Swedish specialties. Also included will be a children's showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking, offices and play areas throughout the store, and a self-serve and full-serve warehouse containing all products inventoried on-site.
OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program is being developed to inspire Connecticut-area construction contractors to improve their safety and health performance.
'Participating contractors will receive incentives in the form of formal recognition from OSHA as well as access to resources that include training,' said Doug Maines, project manager for Skanska USA Building.
'This is another way to bring value to the project by enhancing worker safety,' added Skanska' s Safety and Environmental Manager Dave Korman.
OSHA's Regional Administrator Marthe B. Kent stated, 'A few years ago, OSHA's Region 1 partnered with Skanska, the building trades and others on a very successful partnership involving the building of Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots. There were no fatalities on this project, and injury rates were much lower than would be expected on a project of this size. We look forward to an equally successful partnership with Skanska and the building trades in the construction of the IKEA project.'
The $325-million Gillette Stadium project in Foxboro, Mass., built by the New England Division of Skanska USA Building Inc., was named the winner of the New Building category at the Associated General Contractor Build America Awards in 2003. The award recognized Skanska and its building partner, Barton Malow (known officially as Beacon-Barton Malow) for their work on the 1.7-million-square-foot stadium, home of the New England Patriots.
The joint venture worked with the Patriots organization in providing overall direction for the project including pre-construction, construction and facility commissioning. A sister company of Beacon Skanska, Slattery Skanska Inc. of Whitestone, N.Y., was responsible for all site work and utility installation at the project.
Skanska USA Building Inc., which has an office in Boston and is headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., provides construction, pre-construction consulting, general contracting, and design-build services. The company has more than 5,300 employees in the United States and is part of the Skanska AB global group of companies, which has 76,000 employees and had sales for 2002 of about $15 billion.
