In December 2000, Industrial Specialty Contractors received a bid request from Fluor Daniel for the Shell Chemical GOAL Venture Project in Geismar. At the time, ongoing construction in the area was plentiful, which caused some uncertainty about attracting a skilled workforce to a project that would require more than 170 electricians.

The project was especially complex because of the work involved tying in new construction to existing plant facilities.

As early as the bidding stage, ISC demonstrated innovative thinking by submitting a list of more than 230 associates who had worked at Shell's Geismar facility from 1995 to 2000 without a recordable injury, all of whom were available for the project. ISC feels that this list of resources and its reputation for skilled, well-trained craft professionals were key factors in the decision to award the contract to ISC.

The bid was a competitive, time-and-material format. Site establishment was bid at a monthly rate, and the direct labor and equipment were bid at hourly rates. Bid documents required a detailed budget for each of the four segments of the project.

To accomplish the task, ISC painstakingly created staffing, labor and equipment plans for each area and the site establishment. Plans explicitly detailed each classification of labor and each piece of equipment and tool. Data were provided in hard copy and electronic form so that Fluor Daniel could thoroughly evaluate ISC's proposal against the competition.

After award of the contract, but prior to construction, all managers, supervisors and staff were invited to a customized JMJ seminar. The purpose of the seminar was to teach behavior that would result in an incident-free, injury-free jobsite. The seminar was also available throughout the duration of the project as new personnel arrive on the site.

Once construction was underway, the GOAL Venture Employee Safety Committee was formed. Another innovative ISC activity involved the GOAL Recognition and Fun Team (GRAFT). GRAFT was created to recognize craftsmen for safety and quality workmanship, encouraging camaraderie throughout the workforce.

During construction of the project, contractors were tasked with presenting incentive plans to Fluor Daniel and Shell Chemical. ISC personnel were instrumental in developing a cost-savings split plan that was adopted by Fluor Daniel and Shell Chemical. The plan was structured to divide the cost savings between Shell Chemical and ISC according to a predetermined formula.

When the project was complete, ISC has met every project objective for quality, schedule and budget. Despite the large number of contractors, the aggressive schedule, the complexity of the project and potential problems, ISC's safety record was impeccable, quality was unsurpassed and start-up was virtually flawless.