“We'll end up getting LEED-Gold certification, which is an incredible achievement for a manufacturing plant, because it's so energy intensive,” Curtin says.

The PV system is the cherry on top of the sustainability effort. Judged by production capacity, Boeing says the thin-film solar laminate system, designed to generate an estimated 2.6 MW of power, will be the sixth largest of its kind in the U.S.

Baker Roofing Co., Raleigh, is installing the system for South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. It includes more than 18,000 panels, each measuring more than 23 sq ft, for a total of more than 10 acres. Set to be complete by October, the system is expected to provide roughly 20% of the plant's energy requirements.

Safety is No Accident

Last month the project team announced it had reached 4 million hours of labor without a lost-time incident. To qualify to bid the job, subcontracting firms could have no higher than a 0.95 safety modification ratio.

“That went a long way to making sure we were selecting contractors who were concerned about safety,” Anderson says.

BE&K/Turner also initiated a program where each worker was screened, not only for drugs but also for physical limitations via a “fit-for-duty” examination aimed at identifying preexisting conditions or limitations related to work.

The contractor strictly enforces the reporting of even minor issues. Workers experiencing any kind of physical issue are sent to see the two full-time on-site nurses, and the nature of the incident is recorded into the project team's safety database for analysis.

Armed with BlackBerrys loaded with “safety” software, project managers keep a watchful eye on workers and record any violations or other incidents so they can generate daily reports of potential problems.

For example, the team reacted to hot summer days by making sure workers had proper water coolers and hydration and break tents in employee areas. Managers also placed misting systems, similar to those used by football teams, so workers could keep cool.

And as the work changed, the safety considerations occurring on the site would shift as well. Consequently, the team tailored its safety training and related programs. “Sometimes you could see it in the data before it became readily apparent in the field,” Anderson says.

Four million hours of labor without a lost-time incident “is no accident,” adds Anderson. “A lot of hard work went into safety.”