Inside Performance’s Award-Winning Safety Initiative

At Performance Contractors, safety isn’t just a box to check—it’s the foundation for everything we build. And as the company continues to grow at record-breaking speed, the need to reinforce our safety culture has never been greater.

That’s why, in late 2024, Performance launched a bold new initiative: “We Build Better - By Building It Safe.” What began as a grassroots movement has quickly become a defining aspect of how we lead, work, and grow together. It’s also one of the key reasons Performance was named ENR Texas & Louisiana’s 2025 Contractor of the Year.

And the results speak for themselves: in 2024 alone, Performance logged more than 26 million manhours with a TRIR of 0.20—well below the industry average. Over the past five years, despite record growth, our TRIR has consistently remained under 0.25, averaging just 0.19. That means even as projects, people, and manhours increase, our safety performance stays strong.

We sat down with Kenny Derouen, Corporate Training and Development Director, to learn more about the initiative and why it’s already making such a difference.

A Culture That Grows With You

“Growth is a great thing—it opens up opportunities for people to advance in their careers,” Kenny said. “But it also comes with a challenge: maintaining the high standards we’re known for while bringing in new people at a rapid pace.”

That challenge sparked a conversation among company leadership: how do we preserve our strong safety culture while scaling? The answer was to re-engage with the people who set the tone on every job site—our field leaders.

The result was a new framework built around our slogan, “We Build Better,” and a clear extension of it: “By Building It Safe.”

Turning Expectations Into Execution

At its core, the program is about helping our field leaders—foremen, supervisors, superintendents, and more—do what they already do best, but with greater clarity and consistency. It provides formal expectations, tools, and training designed to make safety a visible, daily priority.

Program releases include things such as clear minimum requirements for time spent in the field, limits on non-safety meeting times during critical hours, a recommitment to our Flawless Execution Plan, subcontractor management, and ongoing communication and compliance tracking via FLIP, the Field Leadership Initiative Program.

By putting long-standing practices into a structured, ongoing format, the program ensures expectations are clear for everyone—especially newer team members—and keeps safety top of mind every day.

Leadership From the Top Down

What sets this program apart is the support behind it. It’s championed by company leadership and strengthened by our safety committees, ensuring that safety is more than a priority—it’s our number one value.

The FLIP videos, training modules, and field audits all tie into Performance’s learning management system, creating a closed-loop system of training, application, and feedback. And everything is designed to be field-first, helping foremen and supervisors spend more time where it matters most: with their crews.

Recognized for Doing It Right

The “We Build Better - By Building It Safe” initiative played a significant role in Performance being named 2025 Contractor of the Year by ENR Texas & Louisiana, but it wasn’t the only accolade. The company also received the GBRIA Innovation Award for Safety—an honor recognizing not just compliance, but leadership.

“It meant a lot to the team,” Kenny said. “It validated what our crews already knew: that we’re serious about keeping them safe and giving them the tools to succeed.”

Making an Impact Where It Matters

So far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“Our people were hungry for this. We kept hearing, ‘Why didn’t we do this sooner?’” Kenny said. “It’s shown them that the company really cares.”

What Comes Next

As Performance continues to grow, the program will evolve with it.

“We have the SOPs in place. Now we can be proactive,” Kenny said. “We’ll redefine what safety looks like as trends change and projects get more complex.”

At the end of the day, the message is simple. Being the best means doing it the safest.

Why It Matters

For Kenny—and for the rest of the team behind the initiative—this work is personal.

“‘Building Better by Building It Safe’ means doing right by our people. Every day. Every job. Every task,” he said.

So what’s the one thing he wants readers to remember?

“When we execute our safety management programs at a high level, success follows.”

Performance Contractors is proud to build a future where growth doesn’t compromise safety but strengthens it. Because at the end of the day, better only matters if everyone goes home safe.