Safety First, Success Follows

What’s better than 1 million labor hours with zero recordable or lost-time injuries? Two million labor hours with zero recordable or lost-time injuries!  

The Houston Methodist Cypress Hospital project team has proudly reached both of these incredible milestones. The project sits on a 105-acre site and includes a hospital tower, two medical office buildings and a central utility plant. McCarthy also completed the initial sitework needed to begin construction, including grading and stabilization of 67,000 square yards of site paving and landscape areas. Self-perform scopes completed by McCarthy crews also included approximately 18,000 cubic yards of roadway paving, sidewalks and miscellaneous foundations.   

Construction on the project began in February 2022 and substantial completion is expected in November of this year.  

How did they do it? With such a strong safety record, a project this large truly thrives on a robust safety program.  

“At McCarthy, safety is personal,” said Billy Naylor, senior vice president, McCarthy National Safety. “Our safety culture starts with ownership and leading by example. The team on the Houston Methodist Cypress Hospital project has illustrated their commitment to safety since the beginning through empowering each other and holding others accountable. 

“It’s one thing to say that safety is everyone’s job. It can’t be everyone’s job if you don’t empower them to do it.” 

From the start of the project, the Houston Methodist Cypress Hospital team has led the company in McCarthy Vital Process (MVP) submissions. This internal program is designed to engage all employees to identify and eliminate unsafe behavior and conditions before an accident or incident occurs. By measuring safety performance prior to an accident happening, the team can do a statistical review of leading indicators to evaluate and continue to prevent an accident from occurring.  

Even McCarthy’s insurance provider has been impressed by this project team.  

"Partnering with McCarthy’s Cypress Hospital team has been a very rewarding experience,” Liberty Mutual representative Blake Bennett said. “The team shares a genuine interest in safety, values everyone’s contributions and recognizes people for good achievements on the project. All things that foster a great safety culture!” 

Establishing a Project Safety Committee 

To make an even greater impact, McCarthy Assistant Project Safety Manager Abiel Garcia established a safety committee on the project. This committee included all project staff, craft workers and trade partners. While the overall goal was safety, the committee also worked to enhance diversity and create a channel to share opportunities for improvement. 

Expectations for the safety committee included: 

• Hazard identification: continuously identify and assess potential hazards in the workplace. 
• Communication: open communication between management and employees. Encourage reporting of safety incidents, near misses, trends and suggestions for improvement. 
• Review site safety incidents: share lessons learned with committee members to drive the message in the field, raise awareness and prevent reoccurrence.  
• Promote safety culture: encourage employees to take responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others. 
• Involvement: active participation of team members in safety initiatives. Seek their input and feedback on safety-related matters.  

The committee was successful because it encouraged communication throughout all levels of the project team, establishing connection and trust. Staff would talk about what they’ve noticed in the field, craft workers would share their perspective, and both sides would compare notes to foster improvement and chronicle successes.  

Innovative Safety Equipment and Technology Onsite  

McCarthy utilized various equipment and technology to enhance safety across the project site. One of these was the SafetyRespect Edge Protection Barrier System. Typically, projects use lumber to set up guardrails. However, this engineered, manufactured system is safer, requires less maintenance and less build time, therefore providing more effective fall protection on the exterior sides of the upper levels of the building.

The project had four tower cranes – one at each of the two medical office buildings and two at the hospital tower. On the tower crane at the second medical office building, McCarthy piloted BlokCam, a wireless system that allows the crane operator to see and hear the surroundings while providing an unobstructed, live feed of critical areas below. A camera is set up on the hook block or boom tip of a crane, with the audio-visual feed transmitted and received wirelessly to a screen in the cab. 

One of the trade partners onsite, Keystone Concrete, used the Doka FreeFalcon fall protection system as they set up formwork for concrete placement in the hospital tower. FreeFalcon is a device designed as an anchorage point for fall arresters with a maximum radius of up to 32 feet. It provides unrestricted movement with 360-degree fall protection.  

Along with Physical Safety, Mental Health is a Top Priority 

In September 2023, the project staff dedicated its weekly safety meetings to discussions on mental health and suicide prevention in recognition of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. The goal was to raise awareness and ensure the team was able to access its craft benefits, specifically Lyra for mental health support. 

During one of these meetings, a craft employee reached out to a staff member about personal challenges they were facing. The project staff swiftly took action – reaching out to leadership, HR and Lyra – and was able to quickly get this person connected to Lyra for support.  

This experience illustrates the team’s dedication to prioritizing mental health alongside physical safety and well-being.  

A Safety Award-Winning Project 

In 2023, McCarthy was given an AGC National Safety Award from AGC Houston, which evaluated the company’s safety record against other contractors according to size and construction type. The award was a result of McCarthy’s safety performance not only on the Cypress project, but across all active projects in the greater Houston area.  

In the same year, McCarthy also received the General Contractor Safety Award from the American Subcontractor Association’s Houston chapter.  

McCarthy Senior Project Safety Manager Johnathan Montoya was honored with the 2023 AGC Houston Ray Lambright Excellence in Safety Award. This award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and personal commitment in directing their company’s safety and health program to advance the safety of all construction workers.  

“As an organization, McCarthy has really provided us with the blueprint for success here,” Senior Project Safety Manager Johnathan Montoya said. “Our team has gone all-in on McCarthy’s safety culture.” 

The team received the Million Work Hours Award from the National Safety Council twice, first when the project reached 1 million labor hours incident-free, and then again when it reached 2 million incident-free labor hours in 2024.  

Safety Success 

The success story of the Houston Methodist Cypress Hospital project team serves as a testament to the power of prioritizing safety. Through unwavering commitment to McCarthy's safety culture, proactive measures such as the establishment of a safety committee, and the integration of innovative safety equipment and technology, the team achieved an extraordinary milestone of 2 million labor hours without any recordable or lost-time injuries. The numerous accolades received, including prestigious safety awards, underscore the team's dedication and serve as validation of their unwavering efforts.  

Indeed, the proof is in the numbers – taking pride in safety leads to exceptional results. Most importantly, everyone is sent home safely every day.