Rising Stars of Safety, Class of 2022

Austin Cichon

Age: 34
Division Safety Manager
Clark Construction
Bethesda, MD

“On average, two objects fall from height every week on jobsites across the country, putting employees at risk of serious injury. Recognizing this, Austin established measures to prevent falling objects during construction activities on the perimeter of buildings and leading edges where they pose a hazard. He advocated for leadership buy-in and worked with teams to increase education and ensure compliance. In conjunction with the new policy, Austin published photographs to illustrate specific examples, which have been key to the successful rollout of the effort. This policy is now part of Clark’s Corporate Safety Manual, applied to all of Clark’s operations and jobsites, and shared with subcontractors onsite.”