Garco Construction promotes and maintains a safe and healthy work environment for our employees and subcontractors. Our goal is a ZERO incident rate. From 1992 through 2013 and 2019, Garco has qualified for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) Safety Team, which is a cooperative safety program between the AGC and Washington’s Department of Occupational Safety and Health.
To ensure that safety is a top priority, all Garco Superintendents and Foremen receive in-house and outside continuing education of current safety procedures as well as WISHA, OSHA and ACOE EM 385-1-1 regulations. Moreover, each new employee at Garco receives a complete orientation from their supervisor prior to working in the field. Garco’s Safety Department and site safety personnel have teamed up with the AGC to monitor, train, and promote worker safety on each project. Garco also utilizes the safety services available from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industrial Division of Consultative Services.
Recent Safety Awards
2020 AGC Excellence in Safety, Federal & Heavy Zero Incident Rate (Chapter & National Awards)
2018 AGC Excellence in Safety, Federal & Heavy Zero Incident Rate
Safety Incentive Programs
Garco tracks employee safety performance by both weekly performance and by the number of “safe hours” worked by each employee. The weekly program rewards the worker with Garco Safety Bucks for a safe week’s work. Safety Bucks are redeemed for a variety of items from the Garco Safety Bucks store, ranging from coolers, logo wear, and even Carhartt clothing. The Safe Hours Program rewards our employee’s safe work with a variety of items which range from a personalized winter weight Carhartt jacket up to a week’s paid vacation. This program begins with an award at 500 hours of safe work. It has now progressed up to 35,000 safe work hours for several of our long-time employees.
Garco is also aware that safety incentives are extremely valuable for a job site as well. Therefore, as a standard practice to reward all of the workers at our projects, Garco will host a job site picnic to show our appreciation for their efforts in working toward a safe and productive project.
Finally, during the summer of each year, Garco hosts a Garco Safety Picnic. For this event, ALL of the Garco employees and their immediate families are invited to spend a weekend day at a large theme park located near Spokane. The day, which includes a catered lunch, employee safety awards and donated prizes, is Garco’s way of showing a genuine appreciation for a safe workforce.
