Gordon "Boney" Jones, general superintendent, Bovis Lend Lease, left; Dennis Coffman, director, RMH Facilities Planning and Development, center; and Ray Montaigne, safety manager, Bovis Lend Lease hold a banner proclaiming the Bovis Lend Lease safety motto. RMH and Bovis, general contractor on the new hospital, recently celebrated more than 500,000 hours of work on the site with no lost time injuries. To date, more than 520 site workers and nearly 40 RMH employees have completed the rigorous Bovis safety training program.

HARRISONBURG – RMH and Bovis Lend Lease recently celebrated 500,000 work hours without anylost-time injuries on construction of the new RMH facility.

This achievement means that no employees have missed work time due to injuries suffered on the job.

“This is a big accomplishment,” said Gordon “Boney” Jones, general superintendent, Bovis Lend Lease. “Most jobs don’t last as long as this one, so we don’t ever reach this number of hours without incident. For our crew to work so hard over such a long period of time, without lost-time injuries, is significant.”

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.

“We strive very hard to have a safe workplace,” Montaigne said. “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. We tell everyone who comes to work on this site that together we can do it—and we have. Our success to date is the success of everyone here.”

Jones added, “Reaching this milestone says a lot about the Bovis safety program and our subcontractors’ participation and buy-in to that program.”

Currently there are more than 500 workers on the construction site every day. That number will increase to more than 700 at the height of the project.

“We are thrilled to be midway through our new hospital construction with an impeccable safety record,” said Dennis Coffman, director, RMH Facilities Planning and Development. “This mile marker is a real testament to the commitment of Bovis Lend Lease to ensuring a safe workplace environment, as well as one that is environmentally conscious.”

Work on the new facility is on schedule for a targeted opening date of mid-2010.