Skanska, an international construction and development firm, announced today the launch of its newly created Injury-Free Environment® (IFE®) website to honor the company’s pledge to achieving zero accidents on each and every one of its jobsites around the globe.

Skanska created its IFE® website to provide the company’s 53,000 employees, including its 8,300 U.S. employees, as well as the company’s thousands of subcontractors, suppliers and business partners, with a convenient resource to underscore the theme of this year’s Safety Week (held in mid May), which is “Lead and Learn in Safety. Take the Next Step,” every single day. The theme of Safety Week accentuates Skanska’s belief that it will achieve IFE® when each individual working on every one of its jobsites assumes responsibility to make improvements for their own sake and the sake of others. For that same reason, Skanska’s IFE® website opens with a special video message (available here) to highlight the power of collaboration and teamwork. 

“Safety is not only Skanska’s first priority, it is an essential part of our corporate culture that is embedded into our daily work routine to guarantee each one of our employees, subcontractors and partners return home safely to their families and friends every day,” said Mike McNally, president and CEO of Skanska USA. “A safe project is a successful project, and in order for us to continue to be successful, we must continue to emphasize safety, inspire and motivate our employees to lead the industry in safety, and educate each person and each partner we work with about the importance of health and safety in the workplace.”

The IFE® website encourages safety education by publishing newsletters, such as “The Leading Edge” The website also aims to creatively inspire employees to become more involved in spreading the word about safety. For instance, Skanska employees can submit a project in which a safety strategy had been implemented successfully, as well as share innovative ideas in the website’s “idea book,” a place to spur the development of fun, effective programs, such as “Safety Survivor,” which is an on-site challenge for the construction crew to test their safety knowledge.

For nearly a decade, Skanska has designated one week, Safety Week, to promoting global awareness around the importance of workplace safety. However, the company practices and celebrates the value of safety each day. For example, each morning, Skanska employees working in offices and on jobsites globally perform Stretch and Flex, an activity that involves stretching exercises to warm up muscles and help prevent soft-tissue injuries.  Also part of the daily routine is Pre-task Planning (PTP), a process to assess a day’s work activities, detect potential risk factors and identify solutions to avoid those risks. To witness Skanska’s Safety Week events in real time, follow the Twitter hashtag #safetyweek13

Skanska has allocated considerable time and resources to the advancement of the company’s safety initiatives in order to protect Skanska’s greatest asset – its employees – and the efforts have yielded positive results. OSHA has honored Skanska with Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) recognition on many projects. Most recently, OSHA awarded Skanska with “VPP” status for its work on the Croton Water Treatment Plant project in the Bronx, New York.  During the past six years, Skanska has reduced the number of work-related accidents by more than 50 percent, and by 2015, the company aims to eliminate all accidents to achieve its vision of an IFE®.

Skanska USA is one of the largest construction and development networks in the country, serving a broad range of industries including healthcare, education, sports, data centers, government, aviation, transportation, power, energy, water/wastewater and commercial. Headquartered in New York with 39 offices across the country, Skanska USA employs more than 8,300 employees committed to sustainable construction and development and an injury-free workplace. Skanska USA Building, which specializes in building construction, and Skanska USA Civil, which focuses on civil infrastructure, generated $5.8 billion in revenue in 2012, representing 30 percent of Skanska’s global construction revenue. Global revenue of parent company Skanska AB, headquartered in Stockholm and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, totaled $19.5 billion in 2012.