Camp Pendleton Naval Replacement Hospital Construction Project Achieves Safety Milestone

By Jesse A. Lora, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest Public Affairs

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (NNS) -- Construction of the new Naval Hospital aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton reached a milestone on June 28 when more than one million man-hours of work was completed without a single Days Away, Restrictions, and Transfers (DART).

 "Safety remains the paramount concern during construction, and the project currently boasts a rate of zero DART incidences over one million cumulative man-hours of effort," said Lt. Cmdr. Stephen T. Padhi, NAVFAC Southwest senior assistant resident officer In charge of construction (ROICC) for Replacement Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration established DART and is used to calculate the number of days away from work, work activities that are restricted by an injury, or where a worker is transferred to another type of work due to an injury. The Navy/contractor team attributes this high safety rating to the cooperative culture of safety that has been firmly established on the jobsite.

"It is truly an honor for the entire blended hospital construction team to witness the results of the innovation and collaboration we have achieved to date," said Cmdr. Whit H. Robinson, NAVFAC Southwest resident ROICC for Replacement Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. "If there was ever a single theme that contributed to our success, it has been the clear sense of purpose and the incredibly strong desire by all team members to truly work together in order to achieve what many thought was impossible. This is all for those warriors that sacrifice everything for our freedom without even a thought of getting something in return."

Other significant milestones completed on the hospital project thus far include design completion, topping out of structural steel, substantial completion of the parking structure, completion of concrete placement for grade and deck slabs, start of exterior skin framing, and start of interior framing and drywall. The project has also garnered first place in the California Team Excellence Award competition for 2011, and took the Complex Project award at the 2011-2012 ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Anaheim May 23.