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Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) is a complex public utility that protects public health, water quality and the environment by managing multiple sewer, stormwater and stream restoration projects while operating and maintaining Oregon’s largest wastewater and stormwater collection, pumping and treatment facilities.

Planning for Portland’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) control program began in 1990, and the city in 1991 officially launched a 20-year effort to repair critical sewer infrastructure in poor condition and in danger of failing.

After two decades of planning, citizen participation, professional peer review, design and construction, the city finished the program by the Dec. 1, 2011 deadline mandated by its agreement with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. BES started major construction activity that included: tunnels to increase capacity, rehabilitation of aging infrastructure and improvements to stormwater and pumping facilities. This has become a way of life with BES and so has safety, which was not always the case.

Many of us may recall that the late 1980s saw a rising number of accidents and workers’ compensation claims that were often considered a cost of doing business. Unfortunately, Oregon’s workers’ compensation rates kept increasing to account for rising losses, which put us near the top of all states and significantly impacted businesses and government agencies.

Many court decisions in 1990 led to legislative changes and workers’ compensation reforms, which mandated improvement to safety programs. Oregon OSHA was tasked to enforce the new standards. Safety advocates and professionals now had the OSHA “hammer” to get the word out. How effectively would this approach improve safety and save lives?

As BES entered the 1990s with construction projects, beginning with Portland’s annexation of East County and city sewer hookups from septic systems, there was much talk and interest about safety. Initially, there was pushback from contractors; but as BES integrated safety with other project objectives, contractors began to recognize the value of the process.

Additionally, locally, there were tragic incidents including two iron workers’ deaths from falls at major Portland construction sites, frequent residential trench cave-ins and, sadly, a trench box that tipped over and crushed a worker. Everyone agreed that construction was a dangerous occupation and there was plenty of emotional conversation about it, but little commitment.

We were no different. Our construction engineering staff and inspector groups were at odds about how to implement “the rules,” and fears surfaced that those tasked to enforce could be held personally liable if someone got hurt or killed. Hesitancy expressed, honestly, if not in a misguided way, that “safety takes time” and is contrary to production and quality objectives. As safety practitioners, we know this to be shortsighted, but “conventional wisdom at the time” had a different and difficult point of view to overcome.

Then came the safety “cultural revolution” of the “Owner Controlled Insurance Program” (OCIP) in the mid-1990s for major construction projects including the Consolidation Conduit and both the westside and eastside tunnel projects commonly referred to as the “Big Pipe.” Contractors and subcontractor tiers were required to submit site-specific safety and health plans that identified project safety risks and procedures to be used to keep workers safe. Additionally, construction projects that had more than 25 employees were required to have designated project safety personnel.

There were plenty of battles with contractors in the initial phases of major construction that deviated from their contractual safety plans. Once city inspectors, with outstanding support from their construction managers, bought into the integration of safety with project objectives (schedule, budget, quality, etc), contractors began to buy into the safety process.

With the evolution of the westside tunnel and continuing to the eastside tunnel with world-renowned construction firm Kiewit-Bilfinger Berger Joint Venture, the project safety culture took off. As an OSHA-recognized Voluntary Protection Program contractor, it set high standards for safety and health. BES was no different when its Wastewater Group and Construction Group completed Oregon OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) and achieved five-year graduate certification.

With the massive tunneling projects completed in 2011, The Oregonian praised its finish without “killing anyone.” And in reality, there were very few injuries on the projects, which included construction of the huge Swan Island Pump Station. Outstanding loss ratios, substantial insurance premium returns and successful partnerships resulted from safety efforts put forth by city and contractor (and subcontractor) employees. The final result was a safety performance in the top 1 percent of all construction projects in Oregon.

Safety has evolved into a core value within BES’ culture. Visible bureau director commitment, manager/supervisor support and meaningful involvement have empowered employees to address hazards they encounter.

The construction companies that work on BES projects have also embraced this value, and work with BES project staff to proactively address hazards and exposures. For example, the Northwest Utility Contractors Association partnered with BES to develop safety plan templates. Safety improvement is a regular topic between BES and NUCA. Additionally, the BES risk staff has coached MWESB firms on how to identify risks/exposures and develop site-specific safety and health plans. Truly, safety has become a partnership with the contracting community. A safe project is a quality project that is not delayed by costly accidents. This benefits the city and contractors.

Our risk and safety challenges will continue. The city has approximately 2,300 miles of sewer pipe that will need rehabilitation. In March, BES began the Phase II rehab program that will include 352 spot repairs, 33,800 feet of pipe rehab and 600 lateral inspections and replacements if needed. The work will be in done in residential neighborhoods with tight quarters for heavy equipment, traffic control and public safety issues.

One of the bureau’s primary commitments today is to maintain safe workplaces and construction sites to protect employees, contractors and the public. The good news is that there is a safety culture and partnerships with the contracting community, so we are more prepared than ever to deal with any upcoming safety challenges.

Mike Reiner is the risk services manager for the city of Portland. The city is a member of SafeBuild Alliance – a nonprofit organization working to achieve incident-free construction projects through the transformation of workplace cultures. For more information or to join, visit www.safebuildalliance.com.

Editor’s note: Paul Schuberg and Pat Darby, senior risk specialists with the city of Portland, contributed to this column.