TULSA, OKLAHOMA – Tulsa-based Manhattan Construction Company has been named the winner of the 2017 National Safety Pinnacle Award from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC). Manhattan Construction Company received the award March 21 during the 28th annual Excellence in Construction® Awards at the ABC Convention 2018 in Long Beach, California.
There are three levels of achievement for the National Safety Excellence Award (NSEA) competition: Excellence, Merit and the Pinnacle Award. While Excellence and Merit represent exceptional and outstanding safety programs, respectively, Pinnacle
recipients can truly be considered world-class. The Pinnacle Award reflects exceptional long-term safety performance and processes; only previous year’s recipients of the Excellence Award were eligible for consideration for the Pinnacle honor. Prior to winning the Pinnacle Award, Manhattan won the 2016 Excellence Award.
“Associated Builders and Contractors is thrilled to honor Manhattan Construction Company, whose world-class safety processes and safety culture has created an environment where every employee understands that the wellbeing of those around them is everyone’s responsibility,” said 2018 ABC National Chair George R. Nash Jr., director of preconstruction at Branch & Associates, Herndon, Va. “Manhattan’s impressive safety record shows the clear difference that an uncompromising, top-down commitment to safety makes in a contractor’s performance and we are proud to call them an ABC member.”
National Safety Excellence Award winners were selected from ABC member firms that achieved Diamond, Platinum and Gold status in ABC’s Safety Training Evaluation Process (STEP). Manhattan Construction Company is a seven-time winner of the STEP Diamond level, which is the STEP program’s highest honor.
During the selection process, national safety winners were judged on self-evaluation scores, lost workday case rates, total recordable incident rates, leading indicator use, process and program innovations and video interviews conducted by members of ABC’s National Environment, Health and Safety Committee.
“With a goal of zero incidents, Manhattan’s Operation Zero safety awareness program fosters a caring connection among everyone who works on our jobsites,” said John Reyhan, president of Manhattan Construction Company. “Since the program’s launch in 2016, our Experience Modification Rate (EMR) has reached an all-time company best of 0.50, which is half the national average.”
STEP is the standard for developing world-class safety programs in construction and is designed to help both large and small contractors evaluate every aspect of their corporate safety and health program and identify opportunities for improvement. According to ABC’s latest Safety Performance Report, the best-performing ABC members STEP participants can reduce recordable incidents by up to 85 percent, making the best-performing companies 670 percent safer than the industry average. 
“As a family-owned company with the fifth generation of the founding family, Larry Rooney, serving in leadership, we are dedicated to the health and safety of every team member,” said Reyhan. “We are a family of builders who cares about making sure every worker makes it home safely to their family every day.”
The National Safety Awards are presented in three major North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code categories: NAICS 236 – Construction of Buildings; NAICS 237 – Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction; and NAICS 238 – Specialty Trade Contractors.
