Thankful for Safety Excellence

As we give thanks for all the wonderful things in our lives, we tend to focus mostly on our personal lives. However, we should also take the time to recognize the time and effort that our companies and colleagues devote to keeping us safe at work.

Every year, EHS Today names America's Safest Companies in an effort to keep all of us striving to reach excellence. 

So, on this day, we thought we would highlight the 2025 ASC winners.

Albany Engineered Composites 

“As a company, we believe all accidents are preventable,” says Bryan Valdez, senior director of EHS at Albany Engineered Composites. “Our first priority as a company is to address safety behaviors, conditions and/or hazards that could cause a SIF [serious injury or fatality].”

To achieve this goal, the company created a SIF Observation Program. Leadership at each of the companies’ nine sites takes an active role on the manufacturing floor, observing job tasks and processes to ensure that safe behaviors are being practiced.

Apollo Mechanical

“We realized that we were losing at least one family member to suicide every year, but it was never officially tracked because it always happened outside of work,” explains Mike Smail, manager of Health and Safety at construction company Apollo Mechanical.

“We broke each risk factor down into manageable items we could influence and started to implement those through the company,” says Smail. “Little did we realize that through implementing small changes to help prevent suicide, we inadvertently developed our own Total Worker Health program. Items we added were QPR (Question, Train, Refer) protocol, which helps supervisors identify people in crisis and know who to call. It is now taught alongside CPR for all of our supervisors and management.”

BL Harbert International

“Our belief is that planning for safety—being sensitive to our environment, properly training, equipping and empowering our workforce, as well as consistent accountability from the top to the bottom of our organization—is essential to our safety culture and our overall success,” Frank Wampol, vice president, safety and health.

 “Field-level workers make up our site safety committees. They see their ideas put into action and are recognized for their efforts. Site safety committee findings feed corporate safety for inclusion in future safety policy and programs company-wide.”

KBR

The company, including all subsidiary operations, “is committed to Zero Harm in both our direct hire operations and through the performance of our subcontractors,” explains Nick Anagnostou, vice president, HSSE. 

Central to this commitment, he says, are the safety principles known as The Zero Harm Absolutes. “These non-negotiable KBR safety standards must be adhered to at all KBR projects and locations globally,” Anagnostou says. “Each Absolute embodies the creation of a safe and healthy workplace. Our journey to Zero Harm requires our employees to genuinely implement each commitment in their daily tasks, whether at work, home, or play.” 

Mangan Inc.

The company created a program that encourages employees to share reflections and observations of their work environments as well as suggestions for improvement; the program’s name itself, SMART Card, was chosen by employees.

“More than a safety tool, SMART Cards create space for honest dialogue and shared responsibility, building a workplace where employees feel safe, heard and truly part of the team,” Gurasich says. “This open and ongoing feedback loop reinforces that every voice matters, especially in remote or solitary work settings where employees may otherwise feel isolated.”

Sevan Multi-Site Solutions, Inc.

“At Sevan, we believe true safety leadership means proactively protecting people, not waiting for compliance to catch up,” Chris Carter, vice president of safety at Sevan, says.

“In addition to our safety absolutes, we've implemented critical provisions like expanded exclusion zones, stricter fall protection standards, enhanced heat illness protocols, revised emergency response plans, and underground utility avoidance procedures, just to name a few.”