It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.

Like everyone else, the staff at the National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee, Inc. (NMAPC) started this year filled with optimism and big plans. 2020 marked the twentieth anniversary of our signature safety recognition program, the Zero Injury Safety Awards^®. Over the past two decades, we have been honored to recognize more than 311 million injury-free hours worked under the National Maintenance Agreements (NMA). We were planning an extra-special gala event at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. to celebrate this milestone.

But as the old saying goes, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." No one was expecting a global pandemic and endless Zoom calls. No one thought they would be wearing surgical masks in public or mastering the finer points of something called "social distancing." In the end, our industry persevered. Working with their partners in labor and the owner-client community, our signatory contractors pivoted and found new and innovative ways to get the job done. And as always, they did it safely.

When it became clear there wouldn't be an in-person ZISA^® event this year, we here at NMAPC applied the same can-do spirit and came up with a new plan. Instead of speeches and a cocktail reception, we leveraged the power of technology to bring everyone together in a fun and innovative way -- check out the video above. And of course, there was never any question about whether the awards program itself would move forward.

NMAPC is pleased to present the winners of the 20th Annual Zero Injury Safety Awards (click through for the full list). In 2019, our tripartite teams completed more than 27 million injury-free work hours on union construction and maintenance jobsites across the country. That adds up to fifteen states, over 100 separate projects and thousands of union craftworkers, contractor and owner-client employees.

ZISA^® honors winners in four categories based on work hours. Below is the top winner in each category:

GOLD STAR (More than 1 Million Work Hours)

BMWC Constructors, Inc.
ExxonMobil
Will and Grundy Counties Building Trades Council

1,737,464 Work Hours

Joliet Refinery
Joliet, IL

SILVER STAR (500,000 - 999,999 Work Hours)

George V. Hamilton, Inc.
Cardinal Operating Company
Upper Ohio Valley Building Trades Council

885,468 Work Hours

Cardinal Plant
Brilliant, OH

BRONZE STAR (200,000 - 499,999 Work Hours)

Enerfab Power & Industrial, Inc.
American Electric Power
Tri-State Building and Trades Council

422,798 Work Hours

Big Sandy Plant
Louisa, KY

CERTIFICATES OF MERIT (50,000 - 199,999 Work Hours)

MPW Environmental Services, Inc.
Cardinal Operating Company
Painters & Allied Trades, District Council 53

197,861 Work Hours

Cardinal Plant
Brilliant, OH

Congratulations to all of this year's winning tripartite teams, and here's to the next twenty years of the Zero Injury Safety Awards^®!

ABOUT ZISA^®: Established in 2000 by the National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee, Inc. (NMAPC), the Zero Injury Safety Awards^® (ZISA^®) is an annual recognition program celebrating those union contractors, labor representatives and owner-clients who work together in a tripartite fashion to create injury-free job sites. We believe these phenomenal achievements - once thought to be impossible - are the direct result of the mutual cooperation, respect and willingness to collaborate that are found within the NMAPC and the union construction industry in general. The winners' hard work, cooperation and dedication to the zero injury philosophy prove once again that union construction and maintenance are the safest and best options on the market. ZISA^® is recognized nationwide as union construction and maintenance's premier award for industrial safety. It is a showcase for the best our industry has to offer and reaffirms our commitment to sending our craft workers home safely each and every day. Learn more at www.zisa.org/about.

October 21, 2020