Committed To Your Safety And Ours
Award Winning Safety Program
With more than 100 years of experience in the region, Knutson is a leader in the construction safety industry. We strive to create a culture of safety, not just for our workers, but also for your clients, your employees, and your visitors. Our culture of safety is communicated from the top of the organizational chart through every worker on site. Safety is everyone’s job and is a part of our performance management planning. This ingrained view of safety is central to our consistent safety performance and is one reason why subcontractors enjoy working on Knutson projects; we hold ourselves accountable and we expect the same from all of our team members.
Safety Starts With Planning
Knutson has an extensive written safety program designed to maintain compliance with Federal, State, and local safety standards and goes above OSHA requirements in many areas. More importantly they are the rules we follow to ensure the people in and around our projects are not being injured. This extensive program has resulted in a consistently low Experience Modification Rate (EMR).
On each project, a member of Knutson’s safety department meets with the project team to develop a project specific safety plan. We received input from key team members, critical subcontractors and if requested, owner representation. The purpose is to identify the high-risk activities and component of the project and develop controls. We want to make safety part of the daily routine and identify hazards/risks early on so that precautionary measures can be implemented. The safety department conducts regular and frequent project audits to ensure Knutson, the Owner, and regulatory safety requirements are being followed and to assist in identifying risks.
Zero Incident Culture
We believe in coaching. Our safety professionals job is to be a resource to the projects, not to be the safety police. We create a culture of safety that is communicated from the top of the organizational chart through every worker on site. On the very few occasions when enforcement action is required, we do not hesitate to take action. This way, we build a culture of safety and accountability across our work force and that of our construction partners.
We also receive resources and support from upper management. We constantly review and update our safety policies and practices based on audit findings to stay at the top of the industry in safety performance. This consistent and measured approach to safety is critical to our Zero Incident Culture. We believe it our corporate responsibility to provide a safe work environment for the construction personnel, owner staff and clients and the general public.
Rick Allen
Rick is Knutson’s vice president of safety and provides safety leadership to all offices. Rick has over 25 years of safety experience and is passionate about building a strong safety culture. At Knutson, he focuses on developing the Zero Incident safety culture to become best-in-class to ensure all employees arrive home safely at night.
Chris Benson
Chris has been a valuable asset to Knutson’s safety team over the years. As safety manager, Chris evaluates exposure on our projects and designs and implements site-specific safety plans. He follows up regularly with site inspections to ensure plans are being followed and any adjustments are incorporated into project safety requirements. He also assists with regular safety training for Knutson employees and subcontractors.
Wally Heidelberger
Wally is responsible for overall safety and quality control for the project, including both oversight of self-perform and subcontractor work. He works closely with key team members as a liaison between the project teams, including subcontractors, and the Knutson superintendents. He will ensure the project is exceeding the quality expectations required by our owners construction standards and is running as safely and smoothly as possible.
“I want to thank everyone that has been a part of this project at Mercy Hospital. It was a very coordinated project with safety for patients, staff and visitors at the forefront and then our own safety next. It has been and still is a TEAM effort to make this project a success!”
Rod Sessing, Senior Superintendent
Knutson Construction
Make Your Mark
At Knutson Construction we empower our employees to shape the communities they live, work, and play in. Regardless of where you are in your career, this is your chance to transform communities and make your dream of a great career a reality.
MNSHARP Award
Minnesota OSHA created the MNSHARP Program in 2004 to recognize construction companies where managers and employees work together to develop safety and health programs that go beyond basic compliance with all applicable OSHA standards and result in immediate and long-term prevention of job-related injuries and illnesses. Since the inception of the program, only 61 construction projects statewide have received this award.
Knutson has had the honor of receiving five MNSHARP awards since the program was created.