Ryland Homes Indianapolis Division Wins National Recognition For Safety Excellence

Jan. 12, 2011 - PRLog -- The Indianapolis division of Ryland Homes has received a Safety Award For Excellence from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Builders Mutual Insurance Company. The award was presented at the International Builders Show in Orlando, Florida on January 11, 2011.

The prestigious award recognizes the achievements of builders who have developed and implemented high-quality construction safety programs. Each year NAHB acknowledges companies that have worked to achieve exemplary safety and health in the residential construction industry. This year, Ryland Homes Indianapolis Division took home honors for the Single-Family Builder Safety Program of the Year.

Steve Dean, vice president of construction for Ryland Homes Indianapolis Division, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

“Safety comes first,” he said. “Everyone…from our trade partners to our teams in the homebuilding and warranty departments, and management…understands the importance of providing an environment that protects each of them, and ultimately our homeowners.”

According to Dean, “We already had a safety program in place to ensure protection for everyone on our job sites, but we were ready to take it to the next level.”

The new program required Indianapolis homebuilding supervisors to receive a 30-hour Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) certification card. Warranty supervisors and homebuilding assistants were required to attain a 10-hour certification card. And at the management level, two 500-level cards were achieved and one person in the division became an outreach trainer who now is able to train new workers so they can become certified, too.

“These educational courses provide the people within our company with a stronger knowledge base on how to create a safe work environment,” said Dean.

At the same time, Ryland Homes Indianapolis Division began an outreach program encouraging its trade partners to be OSHA certified. At least one person within each partner company must hold a 30-hour certification card and workers in the field must have 10-hour certification cards. This has led to a transformation on the job site. Two years ago, not many trade partners carried OSHA certification cards whereas now 50 workers in the field have 30-hour cards and more than 400 have 10-hour cards.

“As the trade partners completed classes, they had a better understanding that we are a responsible builder striving to protect our work force,” said Dean. “Our goal is that every worker on every job site goes home at the end of the day to their family.”

Safety is just one way Ryland Homes distinguishes itself. The company has been building homes and developing communities throughout Indianapolis for more than 35 years and is one of the largest builders in central Indiana. Currently, Ryland Homes has 20 neighborhoods in and around Indianapolis offering single-family homes priced from the $120,000s and townhomes from the $140,000s. In December, new models grand opened in three communities in Greenwood and one community in Noblesville.

For more information on Ryland Homes communities in Indianapolis, log on to www.RylandIndy.com.

Headquartered in Southern California, Ryland is one of the nation's largest homebuilders and a leading mortgage-finance company. Since its founding in 1967, Ryland has built more than 290,000 homes and financed more than 240,000 mortgages. Ryland currently operates in 15 states and 19 homebuilding divisions across the country and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RYL."

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Headquartered in Southern California, Ryland is one of the nation's largest homebuilders and a leading mortgage-finance company. Since its founding in 1967, Ryland has built more than 290,000 homes and financed more than 240,000 mortgages. Ryland currently operates in 15 states and 19 homebuilding divisions across the country and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "RYL."