Grand Bahama Shipyard says it has gone 1.45 million working hours without any time lost to employee injury, describing this as an another milestone in deepening its workplace safety culture.

The Shipyard, in a statement, said it surpassed the one million-hour benchmark on April 14, 2026, after going 210 consecutive working days without suffering a ‘lost time injury’. It added that the facility has maintained this performance uninterrupted, reaching 1.45m trade labour hours without any time lost to injury as at June 25.

The Shipyard said this was achieved during one of the its busiest operational periods, with projects often requiring multiple skilled trades to work together across different areas on a vessel. This, it said, requires robust health and safety systems, careful planning and a workforce committed to high standards daily.

"Our customers trust us with complex assets, our employees trust us to provide a safe workplace, and our community trusts us to operate responsibly," said Chris Earl, Grand Bahama Shipyard’s chief executive.

"Those expectations are earned through thousands of decisions made every day, often when no one is watching. Surpassing 1.45m trade labour hours without a ‘lost time injury’ reflects the choices our people continue to make that prioritise safety and the standards they hold themselves to.”

The Shipyard said its achievement represents the steady progress made through its Safety Absolute Programme, plus active safety committees, employee engagement and continuous investment in training and safety. 

It added that this progress has earned international recognition, with Grand Bahama Shipyard receiving a ‘merit’ in the British Safety Council International Safety Awards 2026. The award recognised the company's performance in protecting the health, safety and well-being of employees and contractors throughout the 2025 calendar year.

Grand Bahama Shipyard was selected to receive the ‘merit’ award from out of 851 recipients representing 51 countries and a broad range of industries, including construction, manufacturing, energy and utilities.

Mark Burrows, the Shipyard’s health and safety manager, said: "I don't believe there is one single reason we've reached this milestone. It's the result of a lot of small improvements brought together over time.

“We've strengthened our standards, improved our processes, invested in training, increased leadership visibility and worked hard to ensure incidents and near misses are properly investigated so that lessons are learned rather than repeated."

Mr Burrows believes one of the most meaningful indicators of progress has been the growing momentum behind employees taking ownership of safety in the workplace. "More individuals are willing to speak up, stop work when something doesn't look right, challenge unsafe behaviours, and take responsibility not only for their own safety but for those working around them. To me, that's a far better measure of our safety culture than any statistic,” he added.

The Shipyard’s Safety Absolute programme is designed to reinforce key safety principles, and encourages employees and contractors to identify hazards, raise concerns and intervene before incidents occur. Supported by a Shipyard safety committee, the programme fosters a culture where prevention, accountability and continuous learning are shared responsibilities.

The Shipyard said it will continue investing in targeted safety training and workforce development initiatives, including confined space entry, working at height, lifting operations and mobile equipment safety, plus the continued development of supervisors and the Shipyard's emergency response team.

"Safety is not a destination,” Mr Burrows said. “There will always be lessons to learn and opportunities to improve. What gives me confidence is the commitment I see every day from our people to make tomorrow safer than today.”