MISTRAS Group, Inc. (NYSE: MG) employees assigned to the Shell Martinez Oil Refinery in Martinez, California, have collectively accrued 18 consecutive years of incident-free work.

The team’s accomplishment is equivalent to more than 1.6 million man-hours of NDT inspection work. “The key to our ongoing achievement of zero recordable injuries is everyone’s total commitment to one another and positive teamwork,” said Mike Price, General Manager, MISTRAS Benicia. “If one employee gets hurt, we all get hurt, and that’s the message I’ve consistently relayed to each of our inspection teams.”

MISTRAS and the Shell Martinez Refinery have formed a cohesive and long-standing relationship, fostering a similar safety culture and training process. Before inspection work can begin, Shell Martinez requires each MISTRAS technician to attend Shell’s “Goal Zero” safety program, supplementing MISTRAS’ extensive range of mandatory industry and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety and certification programs. MISTRAS also mandates each technician adhere to on-site safety protocols and checklists, designed to help technicians recognize and prevent hazardous situations from occurring.

The milestone torch has been passed down over the years to multiple project managers, guiding dozens of inspection crews without record of injury. Each inspection team is comprised of certified nondestructive examination (NDE) technicians and assistants, American Petroleum Institute (API) inspectors, and rope access technicians, meeting a variety of industry standards and project requirements.

“Whether our NDE teams are performing radiography tests (RT), rope access work, or our API inspectors are working in confined spaces, our focus for safety begins with ourselves and extends to our colleagues and co-workers,” said Donnie LaPointe, Project Manager, MISTRAS Benicia.

MISTRAS has been awarded the Shell “Eagle Award” for Excellence in Safety in the large contractor category four times in the last 18 years. Collectively, MISTRAS Group continues to be a global leader for on-site safety awareness techniques and has been the recipient of dozens of safety awards from international energy companies and trade organizations, complimenting MISTRAS’ acumen for safety policies, protocols, and training.