Fort Sill construction garners Eagle Eye safety award

By Nate Herring, USACoE, Tulsa DistrictMay 3, 2012

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Randall Kendall, Fort Sill Resident Office, receives the Eagle Eye Construction Representative of the Year award April 12, from Col. Mike Teague, Tulsa (Okla.) District commander, in Tulsa. The award was presented for his work on the Unaccompanied En... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla. -- One of Fort Sill's housing construction projects has brought honors to the teams involved in building them. The Tulsa District of the Army Corps of Engineers held the Eagle Eye Construction Safety award ceremony at its headquarters April 12, and Fort Sill was well represented.

The Fort Sill Resident Office received the Tulsa District Eagle Eye Construction Office of the Year award, and Randall Kendall of the Fort Sill Resident Office, received the Eagle Eye Construction Representative of the Year award.

Frank Howe, CoE safety specialist at Fort Sill, was presented the Eagle Eye Safety Representative of the Year award. In addition, the M.A. Mortenson Company of Minneapolis was also honored with the Tulsa District Eagle Eye Contractor of the Year award.

The Mortonson Company was the contractor on the Unaccompanied Enlisted Personnel Housing facilities at Fort Sill, and worked with the Fort Sill Resident Office teams and the individuals recognized for their work on this project. The UEPH facilities project consisted of the construction of seven, three-story barracks at Fort Sill, which will house single enlisted personnel.

"The UEPH facilities project proved that safety and quality go hand in hand," said Bob Vandegriff, Tulsa District safety manager. "M.A. Mortenson Company and the Corps construction team successfully completed the $53 million project without a single lost-time accident."

The Eagle Eye program is designed to help create a climate to promote the Tulsa District's goal of zero accidents on construction sites.

The Eagle Eye Construction Safety Awards began in 1996 and encourage contractors working on civil and military construction contracts in the Tulsa District to provide safe working conditions on their job sites. The program is designed to set measurable goals for safety performance and to foster competition among contractors.

The competition aspect is an important part of the program, Vandegriff added.

"There's a healthy element of competition between the offices and the construction representatives. Each one of them believes they have the best people running great projects. Our employees take a great deal of pride in ownership," he said.

"This is a goal that we share with our contractors rather than one that we impose," Vandegriff said.

It's important to recognize both contractors and Corps offices and personnel because of the relationship and teamwork needed to complete a project safely, said Vandegriff.

"Safety is in the business of taking care of people," he said. "A real safety program is a compassionate approach to ensuring that we provide for our employees' and contractors' work needs by making sure that they have the right tools and training to safely complete any task that we give them."