Indiana Constructors, Inc. (ICI) is celebrating its centennial in 2024 and reflecting on a century of progress in all its program areas. Today, safety considerations inform everything the association does, but prior to 1970, there were few legal obligations for occupational safety in many professions, including civil construction. But Hoosier highway, heavy, and utility construction companies took it upon themselves, with the aid of their association, to create a safer industry.
From its early days, ICI worked with Purdue University to develop and conduct safety seminars for its members, and in 1959, Purdue hosted its first annual Safety Supervision Conference. Association members in attendance learned how to launch their own company safety program. In 1967, the association’s safety committee surveyed members and worked with the National Safety Council to create industry safety guidelines.
On December 29, 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) under the U.S. Department of Labor. Indiana, like many states, decided to create and manage its own occupational safety and health program, Indiana OSHA. During this time, ICI conducted outreach programs to educate its members on the new safety standards, eventually establishing safety committees and staff to share information and best practices.
The Indiana Construction Safety Partners is a modern-day alliance of the Indiana Department of Labor, Associated General Contractors of Indiana, and ICI that works to achieve superior occupational safety and health performance in Indiana’s construction industry. Admission and maintenance requirements are stringent, but they demonstrate ICI and its member companies’ commitment to worker safety.
Every function of the association includes a safety element, from weekly communications to policy position development and legislative advocacy. Labor agreements negotiated by the association include health and safety language as well as a robust drug testing program. Students and teachers in our workforce development program, Work IN Roads, are issued industry standard personal protective equipment and are required to follow proper safety procedures during practical, hands-on lessons.
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In the past five years, by working closely with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT), ICI has helped to revolutionize safety in public transportation projects. Now, INDOT incorporates positive protection measures like total road shutdowns or concrete barrier walls starting at the design phase. Special queue trucks are connected to the HAAS Alert System used by apps like WAZE or Google Maps, alerting drivers to upcoming work zones. In August, INDOT launched the pilot program, Indiana Safe Zones, to make use of automated speed control cameras to slow traffic in work zones.
Each spring, INDOT and ICI come together — usually during National Work Zone Awareness Week — to launch the year’s construction season with a focus on safety. The association is working harder than ever to make sure its members are doing their part to emphasize safety on all their job sites every day.
“While safety stand downs and special events are critical to creating awareness, what’s even more important is developing a company culture where worker safety is top of mind with every action. And most ICI member companies do just that,” said Jim Wood, ASP, CHST, ICI Director of Safety and Training.
Since Wood began with ICI in 2020, he has led 80 specialty safety courses, including OSHA 10, OSHA 30, American Heart Association Heartsaver First Aid CPR AED, and more at material costs for members. More than 1,000 member company employees have earned safety certifications from the association’s safety training courses.
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Wood also hosts the association’s quarterly Safety Forum, where ICI safety professionals can discuss metrics and timely safety topics ranging from trench rescue to naloxone administration to verbal de-escalation techniques to combat road-rage-fueled flagger abuse.
Each year, ICI offers the Safety Program Awards to allow members to take stock of their safety efforts and gain recognition for outstanding programs. The award program includes an extensive application and documentation requirement, followed up by unannounced site visits to make sure companies incorporate their safety programs at every level on every project.
For the past 100 years, ICI has been a safety champion for the civil construction industry. As we pivot to the next 100 years, we are working to incorporate tried and true safety methods with new technologies to keep our workers going home safely every night.
