A $36.7-million, 136,500-sq-ft facility intended to promote public health and wellness has not only captured ENR Midwest's Project of the Year award in the category of Government/Public Buildings, but also received the annual competition's prestigious safety award.

Waukesha County Health and Human Services Building logged 171,356 man hours without incident or lost time to accident, an accomplishment project CM Gilbane Building Co., Milwaukee, attributes to placing safety at the forefront of all activities from early in the design phase, when owner and CM developed a detailed safety plan that included specific requirements to be implemented throughout the project.

Due to adjacent locations of new and existing facilities, several measures were put in place, including paved walkways, additional signage and wayfinding, parking and phasing plans, and selective weekend and overtime work, to ensure conditions were safe for health center employees and clients throughout construction.

Other safety measures included detailed safety alignment sessions during preconstruction, customized job-site orientations for each worker, daily pre-task planning and active involvement from the owner’s safety team and risk management group to discuss safety expectations for the site.

Projects in contention for the Safety Award were evaluated by industry experts.

Wisconsin Health Center will be honored at an awards breakfast at the Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago on Nov. 20. It also will be featured in the Nov 17 edition of ENR Midwest as part of the publication's coverage of the year's Best Projects.