Thirty-seven firms were named as the nation's safest construction companies in 2014 by the Associated General Contractors of America. AGC, which oversees the Willis Construction Safety Excellence Awards, an annual ranking of construction safety programs, selected the winners after reviewing the safety programs and results from contractors all over the nation, then inviting the top three firms in each category to present and answer questions from a distinguished panel of judges.

Interstate Highway Construction Inc. of Englewood, Colo., was selected as this year’s second-place winner in the Highway and Transportation Division’s 300,000–700,000 Work Hour Category.

Belair Sitework Services of Commerce City, Colo., was selected as second-place winner in the Specialty Division’s 100,000–300,000 Work Hour Category because of the firm’s exceptional leadership in safety.

The companies presented outstanding guidance in safety and occupation health management, risk control, safety training, work site hazard identification and control, and safety program innovation, AGC said.

“The most important thing any construction firm can build is its safety culture,” said Al Landes, AGC’s past president and president and COO of St. Joseph, Mo.-based Herzog Contracting Corp. “Firms like this send a clear message to their industry peers that we can never take the health and safety of our workers for granted.”

Landes added that there are multiple winners because the awards are distributed for a number of categories, based on the size of the company, the amount of work performed and the type of work performed. He noted that the AGC-Willis Construction Safety Excellence Award winners are selected by a panel of five independent safety professionals within the government, corporate and insurance industries.

Final judging for the awards program took place during AGC’s national convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico in March.