Austal Wins SCA Safety Awards

Austal USA remains one of the safest shipyards in the country the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) announced Mar. 7.

Austal’s hard-earned workplace safety record has been recognized, yet again, by the SCA with both the 2015 Award for Excellence in Safety and the 2015 Award for Improvement in Safety –the company’s total recorded incident rate (TRIR) in 2015 was 44% lower than the rate in 2014 and 52% lower than the industry average.

“Austal’s award-winning safety record is evidence of their steadfast commitment to the absolute safety of the company’s employees and SCA is proud to have them as a member shipyard.” SCA President Matthew Paxton said.

Austal has won either the Award for Excellence in Safety or the Award for Improvement in Safety nine times since 2008. This is the second time Austal has received both awards at once.

“These awards are a testament to the number one priority at Austal USA – worker safety,” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said. “It’s wonderful being part of a team, not only focused on building the best ships in the world, but on being safe while doing it.”

Perciavalle continued, “Austal’s exceptional safety record allows us to attract and maintain a superior workforce, as well as provide our client, the U.S. Navy, with the most efficient and cost-effective shipbuilding operation possible.”

SCA members constitute the shipyard industrial base that builds, repairs, maintains and modernizes U.S. Navy ships and craft, U.S. Coast Guard vessels of all sizes, as well as vessels for other U.S. government agencies. The SCA represents 39 companies that own and operate over 85 shipyard facilities, with facilities on all three U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes, the inland waterways system, Alaska and Hawaii. In 17 of the last 18 years, SCA’s average TRIR has been more than 20% below the industry average. The safety data Austal provided to SCA contributed to one of SCA’s lowest TRIR averages ever.

Austal is currently under contract with the U.S. Navy to build 10 Expeditionary Fast Transport vessels under a 10-ship, $1.6 billion block-buy contract and 11 Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ships which are part of a contract worth over $3.5 billion