JANUARY 31, 2013—Signal Ship Repair, Mobile, AL, a division of Signal International, Inc., achieved a significant safety milestone—1,000 days without a lost time injury—on January 30. “Safety is the number one priority at Signal Ship Repair,” commented Bob Beckmann, senior vice president & general manager of Signal International, Inc., Signal Ship Repair Division. “We have instituted a culture of safety throughout the shipyard with established procedures to sustain a safe and healthy workplace.”

Structural welders at Signal Ship Repair have yet to have any occupational injury. Photo: Aaron Tesney Photography

The achievement by Signal Ship Repair (SSR) is significant because shipbuilding and repair has one of the highest incidence rates of total nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses, according to the latest available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS reports that shipbuilding and repair had an incidence rate of 9.3 in 2010 and 7.8 in 2009. The incidence rate represents occupational injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers based on a 40-hour work week, 50 weeks per year.

SSR has several crafts which never had an injury, including: maintenance, security, inside machinist, scaffolding, carpenters, structural welders, riggers, operators, electricians, laborers, and the safety department. The painters and drydock crew will have attained a two-year injury-free milestone on March 15 and 16, respectively.  On May 11 the pipe and structural ship fitters will be injury-free for one year. 

Each employee receives a Safety License at an initial Safety Training Orientation along with continuous training. This Workplace Safety Program enables any employee the right to stop work or refuse work that may be deemed unsafe using their Safety License. Prior to a task beginning, a work permit is obtained which requires a job risk analysis be performed to ensure the task can safely be accomplished.  

Established in 2010, Signal Ship Repair’s primary business is ship repair and conversion. Located in the Port of Mobile, Alabama, Signal Ship Repair’s facility is situated on 53 acres and 4,400 feet of waterfront, has two dry docks and mooring capability for vessels 1,000 feet (305 meters) in length.

Currently, Signal Ship Repair employs nearly 300 people.