Manhattan Construction Company Wins National Health and Safety Excellence Award
Manhattan Construction Company today announced it has earned a National Health and Safety Excellence Award from Associated Builders and Contractors, which was presented at the 36th annual Excellence in Construction® Awards during ABC Convention 2026 in Salt Lake City on March 19.
“We are honored to receive this national safety recognition, but the real achievement is the people-first culture behind it,” said Hal Wheatley, corporate safety director at Manhattan Construction Company. “This recognition is a testament to the dedication of our teams nationwide who consistently choose to do the right thing and prioritize safety above all else. Their vigilance and care for one another are the fuel behind our safety culture.”
The 2025 National Health and Safety Excellence Award winners were selected from ABC member firms that achieved Diamond, Platinum or Gold status in ABC’s STEP® Health and Safety Management System in 2025, reflective of their 2024 safety performance data. During the selection process, contractors were judged on self-evaluation scores, lost workday case rates, total recordable incident rates, leading indicator use, process and program innovations, and interviews conducted by members of ABC’s National Health and Safety Committee.
“The safety record of Manhattan Construction Company speaks for itself, setting the standard for a culture of care for its people,” said 2026 Chair of the ABC National Board of Directors Thomas “Murph” Murphy, vice president of Power & Construction Group, Scottsville, New York. “Safety values remain consistent for Manhattan, which are nearly seven times safer than the industry average. They are employers of choice because they refuse to compromise on health and safety for every single employee. Thank you to these safety leaders for transforming the status quo.”
The National Health and Safety Excellence Awards are presented in three major North American Industry Classification System code categories: NAICS 236—Construction of Buildings; NAICS 237—Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction; and NAICS 238—Specialty Trade Contractors.
STEP provides contractors and suppliers with a robust, no-cost framework for measuring safety data and benchmarking with peers in the industry, which enables top-performing ABC members to achieve incident rates 658% safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics construction industry average. The self-assessment tool helps participants identify real opportunities for scalable growth in their health and safety programs to lower their total recordable incident rates.
