Cravens Warren Client Spotlight: ODIN Industrial Demolition & Asset Recovery
On May 12, 2011, ODIN Industrial Demolition & Asset Recovery was featured as a guest speaker at the TDI Safety Summit held in Austin, TX. The Safety Summit is an annual conference presented by the Texas Department of Insurance to focus attention on industrial workplace safety. Model organizations from around the country are invited to attend as presenters. In the case of ODIN the focus was on demolition insurance and risk management in a field where safety is of paramount concern.
Mike is an expert at demolition, dismantling, and asset recovery. He has been in the demolition business for the past 38 years, after a successful career in the military. After many years of service with a very large corporation in the field, Mike & Katherine Mitchum started ODIN Demolition, to focus on their goal of providing quality demolition & dismantling services, while ensuring proactive safety on their jobsites.
ODIN's mission is clear:
ODIN's mission is to provide technical expertise on decommissioning, demolition, dismantling, and asset recovery using a safe, cost-effective and innovative approach. "We will successfully complete our mission, protect the health and safety of all persons associated with or affected by our work, while being good stewards of the environment" stated ODIN's Mike Mitchum
Mitchum spoke regarding safety and benchmarks used by insurance companies and project owners. He highlighted one very important fact in the demolition business regarding safety measurements: Because Demolition & Dismantling operations are very mechanical operations, there are low man-hours involved in a project. Therefore, one small accident can have a huge impact on the operation's Total Recordable Incident Rate, Lost Time Incident Rate, and Experience Modifier.
This is very important when considering the safety and credibility of demolition contractors, as compared to construction contractors. With construction, one incident will have a lower impact, because there are many more workers on the job. Therefore, the ratio of payroll & man hours to injuries is inherently lower. However, because the payroll is much lower with the reduced manpower on the demolition jobsite, the single accident has a larger impact. Therefore, it is very misleading to review the rates & modifiers of a demo & construction contractor in a similar manner.
Mike is passionate about advocating a campaign of change for demolition contractors, to change the way safety performance is rated. Traditional methods are outdated & inaccurate depictions of the credibility & safety of this industry. Project owners should instead evaluate the risk and safety performance of the demo contractor by asking for recommendations from past project owners, evaluating the safety and site plans of the contractor, and by reviewing various risk management plans of the contractor. If the contractor cannot provide a technical work plan for the specific project in question, it is likely the contractor is not worthy of hiring.
One featured portion of the speech Mike gave discussed the need for utilization of BBS (Behavioral Based Safety) Reports. The patterns of risk associated with consistent & frequent BBS Reports is imperative when considering identification of risk issues which should be corrected. Mike's 38 year career has included zero fatalities and zero lawsuits as a result of his work; his track record certainly indicates BBS is a successful mechanism for properly managing the risks of a demolition job site.
We are proud to be a part of the risk management consulting team of ODIN Industrial Demolition & Asset Recovery. For more information, visit ODIN Industrial Demolition & Asset Recovery's website
