Houston, Tx. (May 20, 2016) - Deep South Crane & Rigging (Deep South) won the 2016 Houston Business Roundtable (HBR) "Best of the Best" Contractor Safety Excellence Award in the Crane & Rigging Support category, recognizing its exemplary safety performance and model safety program.

Deep South was nominated by ExxonMobil for its work on projects in 2015. One of the unique aspects of the HBR Safety Excellence program is that all companies must be nominated by their clients.

"We believe the safety and well-being of our employees and those working around us is of utmost importance," said Regina Landry, co-owner of Deep South. "We are honored to be recognized as a leader in the industry and will continue our commitment to reinforce safety and safety training in everything we do."

For the award, Deep South underwent an intensive audit of its safety program, known internally as its "master safety plan." Deep South was required to submit details of its safety program, including OSHA required safety statistics, copies of its safety programs and procedures, and documentation of its best practices. As a finalist, Deep South then underwent a day-long site audit that included an intensive evaluation by crane and rigging safety experts to assess that the firm executes the processes and procedures to the detail documented in its safety plans.

"Our master safety plan is our roadmap to keep our employees safe," said Jody Hammett, director of Safety and Workforce Development at Deep South. "This plan covers all aspects of our safety program including our safety standards, safety training, safety meetings, job safety analyses, equipment integrity verifications, safety audits, incident management, and safety shares. Of course, safety training is a key component of the plan.

As shown in the audit, Deep South conducts internal safety leadership training seminars throughout the year, which include sessions on leadership and communication. Hammett explained, "The seminar is designed to ensure company-wide commitment to the master safety plan. Everyone from foremen to senior management attends, further demonstrating our commitment to a culture of safety. As a follow-up to the seminar, supervisors are required to complete monthly online training modules as well.

Furthermore, Deep South's operator assessment and qualification procedures exceed OSHA requirements that are set be implemented in 2017. Deep South requires certification from a nationally accredited agency and also internally qualifies its operators on each specific crane model. All training is documented and each employee has an electronic training portfolio and wallet certification card listing their certifications.

Deep South also demonstrated its craft-specific, on-boarding program that is used to ensure that each employee has the necessary new hire orientation and continued development training throughout their tenure.

As part of its "Best of the Best" honors, Deep South will share some of its best practices at the HBR Best Practices seminar on June 16, 2016, and next year, the firm's safety experts will serve as HBR safety mentors to other firms, helping HBR continue to raise the bar on safety best practices across the industry.

About Deep South

Deep South Crane & Rigging is a leading provider of heavy lift and transport solutions in the refining, chemical, and energy sectors and strives to be at the forefront of innovation, providing its customers the best tools to complete the task at hand. The firm offers a complete range of services, from bare crane rental to turn-key heavy lift and transport solutions, to clients in North and South America. Recognition includes: 9th largest crane company internationally as ranked by International Cranes & Specialized Transports IC50 2015; 2015 HBR Gold Safety Excellence Award; 2016 Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association Safety Award; 2016 Texas Mutual Top Workplace Safety Award.