Workers on the construction site of the new RMH hospital take a break to enjoy their "just desserts" for a job well done. Bovis Lend Lease, construction manager for the project, treated workers to ice cream to celebrate surpassing 2.25 million safe hours on the job since its beginning in 2006. Work is on track for the hospital to open June 22, 2010.

HARRISONBURG –Bovis Lend Lease, project construction manager for the new RMH hospital, recently celebrated more than 2.25 million incident- and injury-free hours on the job site.

This achievement means that no employee has missed work time due to injuries suffered on the job, according to the project’s general superintendent, Gordon “Boney” Jones of Bovis Lend Lease.

“By far, this is the best job I’ve ever been associated with, safety-wise,” said Jones. “The company supports safety and focuses on safety, and our workers have embraced safety. This is the largest project I’ve ever done—and it’s my last. For it to have gone so well is just phenomenal. All these workers need to be congratulated.”

Bovis Lend Lease, construction manager for the project, has a strong commitment to ensuring workplace safety and requires all workers on the job site to undergo a rigorous safety training program, according to Ray Montaigne, safety manager for the company.

“Safety is a team effort,” Montaigne said. “As a team, we have achieved this accomplishment. Our motto is, ‘Everyone goes home.’ At the end of the day, we want every worker to be able to return to his or her family. This will be a structure without blemish. I came out of retirement to work on this job, and it is everything I hoped it would be and more.”

Currently there are more than 400 workers on the construction site every day, according to Dennis Coffman, director, Facilities Planning and Development at RMH.

“We are thrilled at the impeccable safety record of our partner in this project, Bovis Lend Lease,” Coffman said. “The fact that this job is ahead of schedule, with no lost hours due to injury, attests to Bovis’ commitment to ensuring a safe work site, as well as one that is clean, structured and environmentally conscious.”

Work on the new facility is on track for a targeted opening date of June 22, 2010.

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