Building the future involves intricate planning and management, especially for critical airport infrastructure projects. However, the post-9/11 era brought unprecedented obstacles, forever changing the field of aviation security. One remarkable example of innovation in this brand-new environment is the Midfield Terminal Expansion Project at the Indianapolis Airport. This visionary project was the forerunner in integrating the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) specifications right from its formative phases, marking a major turning in how modern airports are conceived and developed.
With its ambitious scope and the high stakes of maintaining safety in an operational airport environment, the project demanded a sophisticated approach to safety management, which is why SMG was chosen.
Understanding the Scope
The Midfield Terminal Expansion at Indianapolis Airport was not just another construction project. It was a comprehensive overhaul aimed at enhancing capacity, efficiency, and the passenger experience. With a new terminal, air traffic control tower, access roads, parking facilities, and more, the project’s vast scope required meticulous planning and execution, especially regarding safety.
Mike Martin, a project safety advisor on the project, now Vice President of Services at SMG, underscored this historical task, stating, “This project was pioneering in more ways than one. Notably, it was the first airport construction project after 9/11, which placed us under the spotlight of extremely heightened security concerns, particularly regarding terrorism. The project design team had the unique opportunity to design the TSA checkpoints from the ground up, unlike previous projects where checkpoints were retrofitted into existing airport layouts. This was the first airport truly made to cater to the TSA’s needs, with security access and oversight integrated into the design from the very beginning. The attention to these details was paramount, setting a new standard for how airports are designed in the post-9/11 era.”
The Role of SMG
SMG’s involvement in overseeing the Owner Controlled Insurance Program (OCIP) Safety Program was critical. As the loss control arm, SMG, with a specialized team of three Safety Advisors, assumed a comprehensive array of responsibilities. These included the project’s safety program development, conducting pre-construction safety assessments, incident reporting, conducting investigations, and facilitating safety orientations. Their dedication was instrumental in ensuring a secure work environment amidst the project’s vast scale and complexity.
SMG’s strategy included coordinating with an on-site medical representative to manage non-emergency medical cases, ensuring immediate care for workers and reducing the need for off-site medical visits. Emergency situations were adeptly handled by the airport authority’s emergency services, demonstrating a well-orchestrated response mechanism to any incident.
Day-to-Day Operations
Day-to-day operations on the project were akin to managing a small city, with heavy construction activities spread across four major areas: the main terminal, two concourses, and the parking structure. The project also included critical infrastructure work like paving the tarmac surrounding the terminal for airplane travel, installing utilities underground, and creating a tunnel under the active runway for a utility corridor. “We had four tower cranes set up, major heavy construction underway, and a new fire station constructed on site due to the travel time from the existing fire station not meeting code based on the new building’s location,” Mike Martin recounted.
The project’s scale, covering a mile wide by two miles long, presented significant safety challenges, from managing work at heights and overseeing multiple scopes of work to addressing environmental health and safety factors. “One of the biggest challenges was the overall size and shape of the project, with someone working on a project possibly a couple of miles away from another team,” Martin explained. This necessitated innovative solutions for site access management, security, and orientation, including the development of safety programs to identify crane envelopes and meet the requirements of the Indianapolis Airport Authority and FAA.
The Challenges of Construction Safety
- Dynamic Work Environments: Construction sites are ever-changing, making consistent safety enforcement challenging. The Midfield Terminal Expansion Project, with its various construction phases and multiple contractors, required a flexible yet rigorous safety approach.
- Diverse Workforce: With hundreds of workers from different contractors, ensuring that everyone adhered to the same safety standards and protocols was a monumental task. SMG’s project safety orientation played a crucial role in unifying the workforce under a common safety culture.
- Incident Management: Despite the best precautions, incidents can occur. SMG’s role in incident reporting and investigation was critical in promptly addressing and mitigating risks, ensuring workplace safety lesson plans were implemented and similar incidents were prevented in the future.
- Regulatory Compliance: Navigating the maze of local, state, and federal safety regulations is daunting. SMG’s expertise ensured that the project not only complied with all legal requirements but often exceeded them, setting a high standard for safety. Additionally, the project was a distinguished member of the OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) Partnership Program. This membership underscored the project’s commitment to excellence in workplace health and safety, demonstrating a proactive approach to going beyond mere OSHA and ISO compliance and actively engaging in a cooperative relationship with OSHA to prevent fatalities, injuries, and illnesses through a system focused on hazard prevention and control, worksite analysis, safety training, and management commitment and worker involvement.
- Public and Operational Safety: Working on an operational airport posed unique risks, not just to workers but also to the public and airport operations. For example, managing the crane envelope in relation to air traffic control and ensuring that the dust of the worksite did not interfere with operations. SMG’s safety management measures had to account for these risks and more, ensuring minimal disruption and maximum safety for all stakeholders.
Lessons Learned from SMG’s Experience
SMG’s leadership in safety was comprehensive, overseeing the safety aspects for all contractors and reporting directly to the Indianapolis Airport Authority. With over 200 contractor firms on site and each contractor responsible for their safety training, SMG’s role was to verify OSHA and ISO compliance and facilitate coordination. “We were the overarching leader of safety on the project, ensuring every contractor had a safety professional on site for teams with a 10-15 headcount. We also facilitated meetings to create a unified safety team out of approximately 50 of us, including the management firms and contractor firms,” Martin highlighted.
- Integrated Safety Planning: Effective safety management begins in the project’s planning stages and integrates seamlessly with all aspects of construction.
- Continuous Training and Orientation: Establishing a safety culture requires ongoing education and reinforcement, especially in projects involving large and diverse teams.
- Proactive Incident Management: Swift response and thorough investigation of incident reports are crucial for learning and prevention.
- Collaboration is Key: Safety is a collective responsibility. Collaboration among all project stakeholders, from management to laborers, is essential for identifying and mitigating risks.
- Beyond Compliance: Aiming for safety standards that exceed regulatory requirements can significantly enhance safety outcomes.
Conclusion
The Midfield Terminal Expansion Project was not just a construction project but a groundbreaking venture into post-9/11 airport design and safety management. SMG, with Mike Martin as a key safety advisor, navigated the complexities of this vast project, implementing innovative safety and security solutions, coordinating among a myriad of contractors, and setting new standards for airport construction and safety. This project demonstrated the importance of proactive safety management, collaboration, and the integration of advanced security measures in building the airports of the future.
Whether you’re embarking on a large-scale infrastructure project or need to navigate the complexities of integrating advanced security measures, SMG, Mike, and his team are equipped to ensure your project not only meets but exceeds safety and security standards. Let’s build the future safely together. Contact us to see how we can serve you and elevate your project’s safety and security to new heights.
