Bellows Byline Summer 2010

Bellows W. S. B e l lows C o n s t ru c t i o n C o r p o r at i o n

Byline S u m m e r 2010

In This Issue

A Culture of Safety We stopped work on all of our projects recently to focus on safety by participating in the 7th annual statewide safety “Stand-Down” sponsored by the AGC and OSHA. During our Texas Children’s Hospital Maternity Center job site Stand-Down, I observed as 400 workers and subs divided into groups led by superintendents and foremen to discuss safety procedures, focusing on how to thoroughly inspect equipment, and then doing so.

St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System recently celebrated the opening of St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital, a new addition to St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital.

Chuck Pierce, Asia Society Building Committee member and 27-year veteran of the energy industry, attended the Asia Society Texas Center job site StandDown. With Chuck’s permission and encouragement, I quote from his subsequent correspondence:

Safety First For 96 years, safety has been the cornerstone of our business. Because of our unwavering commitment to safety, we have remained on the cutting edge of safety innovations in the construction industry.

I am writing to recognize the Bellows team for their commitment to safety on our job site. The Bellows safety record is impressive and the record on our job site of “no recordables” is commendable. In particular I was impressed with the Bellows safety culture and the commitment that “everyone goes home to their families, every day”. That is a very powerful message.

Employee Spotlight Adrian Alvarez and Jesus Solitaire are W. S. Bellows’ first field safety personnel dedicated to on-site safety for all projects.

Project

in P rogress The new Houston Ballet Center for Dance will be the largest professional dance company facility of its kind in the United States.

The culture of a company drives everything from safety to performance.

Leadership drives the culture and it is obvious you and your leadership team are committed to safety. This commitment comes through on the job.

St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital The Woodlands, Texas

Photography

G Lyon Photography Laura Johnson Slyworks Photography

The safety of our workers and anyone else on our job sites is our top priority

The safety of our workers and anyone else on our job sites is our top priority at Bellows. Our company invests in, supports and teaches safety in a variety of ways including empowering a dedicated Safety Team to orchestrate our award-winning program. At Bellows, continuing to build a culture of safety and caring is not only a commitment, but an imperative.

Laura Bellows, Chairman of the Board

Healthcare Reform

The recent healthcare reforms will certainly change healthcare as we know it today — exactly how is uncertain. What we do know is that 35 million users will be entering the marketplace, which will create a need for more facilities to support this significant increase. Bellows knows how to deliver healthcare facilities.

Our recent resumé of work now includes two projects for St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital System at the Woodlands, and the Medical Center Renovation Team (MCRT) office is working on a renovation project on their main campus in the TMC. The Texas Children’s Hospital Feigin Center Research facility was recently completed and has won three awards including: Houston Business Journal ’s Landmark Award for Healthcare, R&D Magazine’s Laboratory of the Year Honorable Mention and Texas Construction Magazine’s Best Research Project of 2009.

St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital

In addition to the St. Luke’s Hospital renovation project, our MCRT office has started new projects with Baylor College of Medicine and continues to work with Texas Children’s Hospital and Rice University. The MCRT is delivering exceptional work on difficult projects.

B ellows B yline | S ummer 2010

The Texas Children’s Maternity Center project is progressing nicely. The structure topped out on schedule in June, and the exterior facade is now visible. Preliminary work on the interior build out has started. An exceptional facility for Texas Children’s entry into the maternity field is quickly materializing as a gateway to the TMC. So however the healthcare reforms actually occur, Bellows stands ready to deliver.

Jim Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer S ummer 2010 | B ellows B yline

St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital New Hospital Opens

in

St. Luke’s The Woodlands

St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System

planned for growth and the flexibility

recently celebrated the opening of

to expand with shell space for future

St. Luke’s Lakeside Hospital, a new

operating rooms, imaging and staff

addition to St. Luke’s The Woodlands

support areas.

Hospital. The $28.5 million facility, designed by RTKL Associates, Inc. and constructed by W. S. Bellows Construction Corporation, provides cardiology and orthopedic care for residents of this suburban community north of Houston. The new 90,000-square-foot, stand-alone hospital includes 30 inpatient beds, six operating rooms, and two cath labs, as well as the latest diagnostic imaging suites and technology. The healthcare facility has also been

in the pedestrian and overall traffic

large windows and storefront views

Project Highlights

flow. RTKL designed a contemporary

inside the facility are intended

• We

building per the client’s goals and

to incorporate the beauty of the

technological needs.

surrounding area by using nature

St. Luke’s Lakeside was named to reflect the proximity of an adjacent three-acre water feature. An

St. Luke’s Lakeside is an all-digital,

outdoor loggia provides a dining

state-of-the-art hospital designed to

and gathering space only a few

support and update the most current

the integrity of the adjacent existing

medical technology and advanced

buildings by the use of similar

clinical protocols. St. Luke’s

material palettes, textures, colors

requested that the exterior facades

and select architectural elements. The

reflect a “fresh” and distinct identity

contours and form of the building

for the campus while maintaining

reinforce this uniqueness and aid

steps from the water’s edge. The

as an additional healing element for visitors, patients and staff. St. Luke’s

were able to provide

cost savings to the

Owner

through exemplary

teamwork and on - site

Lakeside is the major cardiac and

coordination between

orthopedic center for The Woodlands

the owner , architect ,

community and a valuable

engineers , contractors

healthcare provider for the region.

and subcontractors .

• At

the

Owner’s

request , the schedule was accelerated over three months , and the project was completed

Incorporate the beauty of the surrounding area by using nature as an additional healing element

on the promised date .

Successful

project

delivery was due to skillful preconstruction services and on - site coordination .

St. Luke’s Lakeside is an all-digital, state-of-the-art hospital

• Completion

of this

project supports

St. Luke’s

goal of being a leader

Architect

RTKL Associates, Inc.

MEP Engineer

Wylie and Associates Inc.

Civil Engineer

Woodlands

The

and adjacent

communities as well

Walter P. Moore

as strengthening their

Landscape Architect

partnership with their team

TBG

B ellows B yline | S ummer 2010

in healthcare in

of exemplary physicians .

S ummer 2010 | B ellows B yline

Safety First For 96 years, safety has been the cornerstone of our business. Because of our unwavering commitment to safety, we have remained on the cutting edge of safety innovations in the construction industry. When our company built the 570-foot-tall San Jacinto Monument in 1936, Warren Bellows Sr. insisted on having hand rails installed on the outside of the building for safety purposes, even though there were no rules regarding safety at that time. We were the first general contractor in the Houston area to have a full-time safety director and have had one for more than 50 years. We were also the first to partner with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) agency, and we continue to incorporate unprecedented ideas into our award-winning safety program which goes above and beyond OSHA standards. Bellows has earned more than 60 safety awards since 1984 and gone eight of the last nine years with no lost time accidents as well as maintained continuously low modifiers and incident rates. These achievements are possible because our firm’s leadership is actively committed to our long-standing safety program which is managed with excellence by our Safety Director, Tommy Lee.

Safety Orientation and T raining

Commitment to safety always begins at the top. At Bellows there

safety bus program, the workers’ awareness and behavior results have changed dramatically.

is the utmost support from the Chairman, CEO and management team, and safety is ingrained in every employee’s behavior from the moment they step through the door. When a field employee starts working at Bellows, a four-step safety training program is required: 1) Safety Orientation Provides an overview of our safety program while setting the expectation to work safely at all times 2) Ladder Safety Program Outlines rules and regulations regarding ladder use 3) Scaffolding Safety Program Thoroughly explains how to use scaffolding and avoid potential accidents 4) Fall Protection Program Provides fall protection training certification Each year, every field employee goes through a complete refresher course of the Bellows Construction safety program.

During off hours, the Safety Director holds a special safety training session every other month at the AGC Houston headquarters for superintendents, the Chairman, CEO and management team, covering a variety of relevant topics.

On the alternate months, he holds a supervisor safety training meeting, which is a hands-on training session attended by superintendents, foremen, the Chairman, CEO and management team.

Innovative Practices

• Bellows Construction Safety Bus Once a week, the Bellows Construction Safety Bus, with a state-of-the-art DVD system, is driven to a job site. The bus holds 16 workers and remains on the job site until all new Bellows field employees and subcontractors have watched the two-hour safety orientation video which is produced by Bellows Construction in both English and Spanish. After watching the video, workers are given a written examination that is checked by the Safety Director and foreman. Since implementing the

Our firm’s leadership is actively committed to our long-standing safety program

B ellows B yline | SBummer 95 th A nniversary yline |2010 S pring 2009

• Bridging the Communication Gap Many of the people who work on our job sites speak Spanish as their primary language, and our Safety Program is committed to making certain that these workers are not left out of our safety program. Bellows hired two bilingual Field Safety Reps who help communicate with our Spanish-speaking team members.

• Fall Protection Program Bellows developed a perimeter protection system that consists of a cabling barrier that is installed six feet back from the perimeter of the building and all open shafts. This is put in place prior to concrete being placed on a floor and remains for the duration of the project.

Nationally Recognized Safety Director

Bellows’ Safety Director, Tommy Lee, is the driving force behind the company’s exemplary safety record and award-winning safety program.

Tommy has been recognized with many awards including the Ray Lambright Excellence in Safety

Award from the Houston Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC); the Assistant Secretary’s Team Impact Award given by the U.S. Department of Labor, OSHA (one of only three non-OSHA employees to receive this prestigious recognition); and an award from ConocoPhillips for outstanding service and performance with no recordable injuries or illnesses during 2007 for Woodcreek West Campus. Tommy was also named 2009 Safety Director of the Year by the Houston Chapter

of the American Subcontractors Association. Most recently, Tommy was named Chairman of the National Safety and Health Committee of the AGC. Tommy is the first Safety Director from Texas to chair this prestigious committee.

Bellows Construction is a company that constantly scrutinizes its safety program for better performance.

This commitment to continuous improvement is why we remain on the forefront of safety innovations.

Employee Spotlight Adrian Alvarez and Jesus Solitaire are W. S. Bellows’ first field safety personnel dedicated to on-site safety for all projects.

According to Tommy Lee, Safety Director for Bellows, “Adrian and Jesus are exceptional at assessing the training needs of an everchanging workforce that can be addressed in future safety meetings.

And because they began their careers as laborers, they are keenly aware of the type of safety training

that our field staff requires and can easily relate to them.”

Adrian and Jesus have taken on more safety responsibilities, resulting in Tommy’s ability to dedicate more time to elevate overall safety training and procedures for the company.

Both Adrian and Jesus are pursuing advanced degrees in safety management. Recently, Adrian received the Pat J. Kiley Excellence in Leadership Scholarship for outstanding dedication to safety awareness.

S ummer 2010 | B ellows B yline S pring 2009 | 95 th A nniversary

W. S. Bellows Construction Corporation Post Office Box 2132

Houston, Texas 77252-2132

Project in Progress Houston Ballet Center

for

Dance

The new Houston Ballet Center for Dance will be the largest professional dance company facility of its kind in the United States. Designed to propel Houston Ballet to the next phase of its development, the Center for Dance will more than double the current space of the existing Houston Ballet facility. The new state-of-the-art, six-story building has 115,000 square feet dedicated to nine dance studios, a black box dance laboratory that seats 200 people for presentations and rehearsals, and artistic, administrative support facilities for Houston Ballet and its Ben Stevenson Academy.

• The newly-constructed sky bridge will allow performers convenient access between the Center for Dance and the Wortham Theater

• Located at 601 Preston in the downtown Houston Theater District • Designed by Gensler

• $52 million budget • Completion date: spring 2011