Milburn “best in class” Demolition Company”

By: MILBURN

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Encova serves companies in more than 28 states and the District of Columbia through independent agencies that live and work in local communities. Through innovation and collaboration, Encova has a passion for people that extends beyond the world of insurance and geographic footprint.

Every year, they choose about six companies out of their more than 21,000 policyholders for the regional safety awards.

In 2021, they nominated Milburn, and Milburn won. “We would have chosen them sooner,” Encova’s Pat Deacy said, “but we have to wait to nominate a company until we’ve worked together for at least two years.”

Demolition companies aren’t usually favorites, but Milburn is “different”

Patrick Deacy, Senior Safety and Loss Control Consultant for Encova’s Naperville, Illinois branch, recalls that his first reaction to taking on a demolition client was not one of immediate enthusiasm.

“You hear their line of work and you kind of say ‘uh-oh, a demolition company.’” But Deacy immediately saw that Milburn was different. “When we met them, I was completely confident. They had such a good attitude about safety. They just stood out. I rated them the highest I ever have, demolition or otherwise.”

After two years of being Milburn’s workman’s comp insurance carrier, Pat’s confidence was proven to be well-placed. “In the two years we’ve been working together, Milburn has never even had a claim. There’s no other way to say it, they’re a “best in class” company, hands down.”

So how do they do it?

Unlike some safety and construction awards, Milburn didn’t win for a specific project or scope of work. They won because they stand out, and they stand out because they’ve invested in their people’s well-being at every level.

According to Deacy, Milburn’s achievements are a result of “simply what they do every day.” Specifically, Milburn’s attention in the following areas sets them apart from the competition:

Consistency

• Before every single project, Milburn teams complete a detailed safety plan
• Before every day’s work, teams hold a morning safety meeting (JSA)

Buy-In

• Genuine commitment to safety communicated from the leadership team to superintendents 
• Foreman are involved in training their teams
• Milburn employees have a deep sense of being cared for as people

In addition to strong, company-wide buy-in that is grounded in a sense of caring, Milburn has recently chosen a leader who truly understands the business of demolition, the behaviors that motivate safety, and the training required to keep people safe. 

Of course, all of that pales in comparison to the fact that YeYe genuinely cares about the people he’s working with each day. “These are my guys,” Yeye says. “It’s my job to get them home to their families.”

Safety—key to retention?

In the construction world, it’s pretty normal to jump between companies. It’s not even seen as much of a negative. One job ends, and the team moves to another company to start a new job. Seasons change.

But at Milburn, it’s looking more and more like people stay, in season and out of season, because of the Milburn difference. When you have a company that doesn’t just say “our people come first,” but actually puts them first; construction workers, engineers, project managers, and skilled laborers start to take notice.

So add a lower turnover rate to another one of the benefits of doing things the right way when it comes to safety. The old idea of “get it done as quickly as possible no matter what,” is proving to be just that—an old idea. Milburn’s championing of their people and commitment to keeping everyone safe, every day, is an investment with ever-increasing returns.