Safety is critical to the success of an energy construction project. More importantly, it is the basis of a strong energy construction company.
Michels Trenchless, part of the Michels family of companies, demonstrates its commitment to safety by using it as a framework of its first core value: Safety is the cornerstone of our culture.
Michels has expanded its international footprint to Australia, selectively specialising in technically challenging trenchless installations in Australia. This is to ensure customers are provided with reliable, unobtrusive service in metropolitan and remote areas. The team consists of Wangaratta-based project management, HSE and field staff supported by industry experts at its international headquarters in Brownsville, WI, USA.
Founded in the Midwestern United States in 1959 as a regional natural gas distribution company, Michels quickly expanded its services to meet the evolving needs of established and new customers. In 1988, Michels entered the horizontal directional drilling (HDD) market, offering a safe, environmentally sound way to install utility lines in areas where traditional open-trench construction would not be practical or feasible.
Keeping with Michlels’s spirit for innovation, the trenchless team has grown and advanced with the industry. By building a reputation for completing some of the world’s most challenging, significant installations, Michels has expanded the capabilities of its team and custom designed and fabricated equipment. The company has completed more than 225 pilot-hole intersect HDD projects and drills in excess of 4700 metres.
Regardless of where in the world a project is being completed, it is backed by Michels’s extensive programs focused on ensuring the safety of everyone who works on its projects. Michels’s Stop Work Promise asks everyone to make a promise to their families, friends and co-workers to stop or not perform any work or action that is or appears to be unsafe without fear of repercussion, whether on the job or in their personal lives.
Michels’s mission is to ensure its people return home safely each day. Projects are supported by a team of nearly 200 trained HSE professionals, including those in Australia, who work with field crews to ensure safety by providing training, conducting audits and overseeing operations from an HSE perspective.
Michels is honored to have been recognised by the national awards programs for the results of its safety culture.
In 2022 and 2021, Michels Canada was named the Gold Winner for Canada’s Best Health & Safety Culture in the Canada’s Safest Employers Awards program. Michels was also honored to receive the 2021 Distribution Contractors Association Arthur T. Everham Safety Award (first place), the 2021 ASDC Outstanding Safety Award, and the 2021 ASA Chicago Bronze Safety Award, among others.
For more information visit Michels.
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This article appeared in the December edition of Trenchless Australasia. Access the digital copy of the magazine here.