Safety Program

Merit's award winning safety program is a point of pride for our entire organization. Merit has been awarded the Associated General Contractors top safety award in 2003, 2005 and 2007 in the State of Tennessee for the outstanding results achieved by our safety program.

It is imperative that the tone is set early for a safe, clean job site. A safe site is crucial in order for the schedule to be maintained and to ensure the safety of all those involved in the project.

Merit will establish the tone early in the process by reviewing and qualifying all subcontractors bidding on the trade packages with regard to their past performance, financial stability, current workload as well as their safety history on past projects.

Merit's full-time safety manager, Theresa Adcock, is responsible for all aspects of safety training and monitoring of all construction site safety. The safety manager makes regular unannounced jobsite visits to check that all personnel on a Merit job are working safely and safety equipment needs are in place.

Pre-construction orientation meetings will be conducted for all trades on the project. Safety issues will be discussed to create a better understanding of what is expected from everyone working on the construction site. Once a week, all construction workers are assembled for a "Toolbox Talk" which is directly related to the job's current phase of construction. The "Toolbox Talk" will be lead by Merit's project superintendent. Items discussed will be recorded and filed in the project file along with a list of meeting attendees.

Merit is fortunate to have access to the Associated General Contractors (AGC) Safety Van, which travels to Merit's construction sites and supports our training with safety videos and safety materials. The AGC also employs a full-time safety manager available to support our project superintendents and safety manager.

Merit has established a safety award program to reward field employees for their proactive support of Merit's Safety Program. The Charles A. Hays, Jr. Safety Award program is valued on a per-project basis. Project Superintendents are rewarded with a safety bonus based on their level of success in this program.

Merit Construction, Inc. takes safety seriously. As one of the seven selected "core" members in the statewide AGC Self Insured Worker's Compensation Trust, Merit has benefited from lower premiums and thus, lower cost to our Owners.

Merit's current Experience Modification Ratio (EMR) is 0.76.

A copy of Merit's safety program is available for your review upon request.