S & B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd. Articles RSS Feed

S & B Receives a Top 12 ENR Ranking for Fourth Straight Year

Justin Borchardt — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:00:00 GMT

The Engineering News-Record recently released it’s 2010 rankings for the top 500 Design Firms and S & B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd. and affiliates ranked 12^th in the Top 20 for the Industrial Process/ Petroleum category. S & B also ranked 35^th in the Top 500 Design Firms. This marks the fourth year in a row that S & B has been in the Top 12 for the Industrial Process/ Petroleum category and the Top 40 Design Firms.

26-Apr-10 12:00 PM

S & B Receives Silver Star Safety Award from Chevron El Segundo Refinery

Justin Borchardt — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Chevron El Segundo Refinery has named S & B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd. a recipient of their “Silver Star Award” in “Appreciation for Outstanding Safety Performance” for “Recordable Incident Rate of 1.0 or less.”

This is associated with S & B's effort on the Chevron El Segundo PRO+ Brownfield Project, where S & B performed Construction, Construction Management, Field Project Management and Field Engineering Services from 2008-2009.

Thank you to those who worked hard to make this a safe project.

21-Apr-10 8:00 AM

The OSHA Challenge Program

Donna Green — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:00:00 GMT

OSHA Created the Challenge program as a means to help companies improve their safety programs along with guidance towards applying for VPP. S & B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd. Is one of a handful of companies in the country that is an Administrator in the OSHA Challenge program. Pictured with Jimmy Slaughter, Jr. and Dr. Brookshire is Joe Reina, Assistant Regional Administrator for OSHA’s Regions VI office (i.e., the OSHA office that is responsible for New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas).

For more information on OSHA Challenge and a list of Administrators and Participants, go to www.osha.gov/dcsp/vpp/challenge.html

8-Jun-09 3:00 PM

Diane Larrivee, S & B’s Corporate Risk Manager, named as one of Business Insurance’s 25 Women to Watch for 2008

Donna Green — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Diane Larrivee
Corporate Risk Manager
S&B Engineers & Constructors Ltd.
Houston, Texas

Diane Larrivee is responsible for the procurement of all property, casualty and specialty lines of insurance as well as benefit programs at S & B. Within the organization, she advises the general counsel, assistant general counsel and other directors and managers on all risk management, coverage and claims issues. Ms. Larrivee also has given back to her community by providing risk management services to the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department for more than 10 years. She also is a lifetime member of the organization’s auxiliary and served as its president for four years. She also works with women in developing effective communication skills in creating relationships that work personally and professionally.

HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY: "My father owned an insurance agency in Port Angeles, Wash., and I worked for him in high school. I worked for him for about five years, then I ended up buying the agency and running it with my sister for another five years. I then got married and moved to Seattle and worked for a commercial brokerage there for about two and a half years. Then I moved to Texas and worked on the S & B account, and S & B offered me the position as risk manager. That was 19 years ago."

THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED: "I’m really into reading and quotes. I have a quote by Wayne Dyer and it’s, 'The attachment to being right creates suffering. When you have a choice to be right or to be kind, choose kind and watch your suffering disappear.' I don’t always remember to do that, but when I do, it’s a beautiful thing. Conversations always work out and it’s satisfactory on both sides. There’s also another one that I got from a leadership program I took, and it is, “You can say just about anything to anyone as long as you love them while you’re doing it.” When I remember to do that, that works too."

ADVICE FOR THOSE STARTING IN THE INDUSTRY: "Straight authentic communication absolutely works. People can handle the truth, so just be straight with them. Don’t be afraid to admit when you’re wrong. That’s how we learn. When you’re honest and forthcoming like that, it allows them to be the same and really furthers your relationship."

WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE PROFESSIONALLY WHILE GROWING UP: "I wanted to be three different things. When I was really little I wanted to be a ballerina. Then I wanted to be a teacher or a writer, because I learned to read when I was four years old and I loved reading and wanted to write. But I ended up living happily every after in risk management and insurance."

5-Jan-09 1:00 PM

James G. Slaughter, Jr., has received the Construction Industry Institute’s 2008 Richard L. Tucker Leadership and Service Award

Justin Borchardt — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

The Executive Committee of the Construction Industry Institute has awarded the 2008 Richard L. Tucker Leadership and Service Award to S & B’s President, James G. Slaughter, Jr., for his outstanding contributions to furthering the mission of CII.

Mr. Slaughter received the Award during this year’s Annual CII Conference marking its 25^th anniversary. The conference was held in August in Keystone, Colorado.

Mr. Slaughter’s contributions to CII are highlighted by his service on the Executive Committee and the Board of Advisors, as well as his leadership in improving the project front end planning process. The front end planning task force developed the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) and Alignment Thermometer tools. Mr. Slaughter has also served as the Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee twice and CII’s Vision 2020 initiative, as well as championing industry benchmarking and metrics.

S & B has been a committed member of CII since 1991 and as such has benefited from many of CII’s initiatives, including those that Mr. Slaughter has promoted. The Company continues to support ongoing research teams by making its employees available to serve as team members.

CII is a consortium of more than 100 leading owner, engineering-contractor and supplier firms. Its mission calls for adding value for its members by

enhancing the business effectiveness and sustainability of the capital facility life cycle and
expanding the global competitive advantage to be realized through active CII involvement and effective use of its research findings.

Additionally, Mr. Slaughter is a very active member of the National Academy of Construction. He is a past President and current Executive Committee Member. This is a select organization made up of industry leaders.

We congratulate Mr. Slaughter for the recognition of his years of CII service and leadership and are proud of S & B’s role in improving the business effectiveness of our industry.

7-Sep-08 9:00 AM

S & B Receives VPP Star Mobile Workforce Designation

Justin Borchardt — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

S & B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd. successfully completed the final stage in its application to OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program better known as VPP. VPP is the premier recognition of a company's safety and health management programs and systems. This designation and posting of the trademark-registered logo tells the industry that we have a safety program and safe worksites that maintain the highest standard for workplace safety. VPP is so highly renowned that safety professionals across the country and thousands of executive managers of refineries, chemical plants, and manufacturers identify this program as being the highest level of recognition and achievement in the safety arena. Of the hundreds of thousands of companies in the U.S., only about 2,000 have received acceptance into VPP. S & B's acceptance not only marks a highpoint in that a construction company is accepted, but that S & B was accepted as a Mobile Workforce and accepted at the Star level, the highest level of achievement in VPP.

It is worth noting the different types of acceptance into VPP. Many of us are aware that "fixed sites" that fly the VPP flag such as refineries, chemical plants, and manufacturers comprise over 90% of VPP's membership. It is common for a company, like Valero or Shell, to have two or more sites that are VPP Facilities. Once a site has become VPP, the site usually requires all of its contractors to become VPP, especially since that contractor will work in that facility and must follow all of the sites rules. This arrangement has opened the door for many construction companies to receive the VPP designation, but only for that "fixed site."

S & B's VPP Star Mobile Workforce designation is a noticeable difference when compared to that of VPP for a "fixed site" in that S & B's designation goes where ever we have a workforce. This key feature allows S & B to fly the VPP flag at our worksites and use the VPP logo on vehicles, hardhats, etc. as a way of telling our industry of our achievement.

Congratulations to our employees on keeping a culture of “safety first.”

20-Aug-08 2:00 PM

S & B Undergoes Successful ISO Audit

Justin Borchardt — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

In May 2008, S & B satisfied its most recent annual ISO audit. The company is ISO 9001:2000 certified for engineering, procurement, construction management, and construction services at its Houston and Deer Park facilities.

The certificate, issued by an external registration body, confirms that the company's Quality Management System is in compliance with the requirements set forth in the ISO 9001:2000 Standard.

This Standard is the basis for assessing an organization's ability to meet customer, regulatory and internal requirements. This formal certification of the quality systems is an integral part of S & B's company-wide emphasis on customer satisfaction and continual improvement.

It is noteworthy that since its initial certification in 2003, S & B has annually submitted all of its operations - engineering, procurement, construction management and construction services - at all five of its Houston and Deer Park locations for assessment.

6-May-08 1:00 PM

S & B Brings Home the Gold

Justin Borchardt — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

S & B Engineers and Constructors, Ltd., received the top award, "Gold - Best in Category," from the Houston Business Roundtable at the annual Awards Banquet held at Moody Gardens in Galveston on Friday, May 2, 2008. S & B was nominated for the award by LyondellBasell, Houston, for multiple projects constructed by S & B in 2007 with no OSHA Recordable Injuries.

S & B was nominated among other top contractors - Austin Industrial, Jacobs Field Services, Kellogg Brown & Root, Performance Contractors, and Zachry Construction.

It's an honor to be nominated by one of our fine clients and very exciting to be a finalist. Winning the "Gold - Best in Category" Award, when you are up against such big names in the business, is truly a grand achievement.

2-May-08 3:00 PM