Austal USA on Tuesday announced it has earned an Excellence in Safety award from American Equity Underwriters (AEU) for the Mobile shipbuilder’s strong commitment to safety in the workplace.

AEU is the leading provider of workers’ compensation for waterfront employers. The AEU Safety Awards program recognizes the strongest safety programs in the maritime industry nationwide.

“This year’s winners truly are the safest in the industry,” stated Jimmy Burgin, senior vice president and director of loss control at AEU. “The commitment of their management teams, supervisors, safety staff, and employees all combine to create safety programs that are worthy of this recognition.”

Austal USA has been recognized year after year for the company’s proven safe high-tech manufacturing processes. This is the sixth AEU award the company has received, and the 20th industry safety award earned overall, making Austal USA one of the safest shipyards in America.

“This award is evidence of a shared commitment between Austal USA leadership and our employees to maintain a culture of safety excellence,” said Austal USA interim president Rusty Murdaugh. “Safety is our top priority at Austal USA and will remain so as we add a steel shipbuilding capability and continue to build quality products on time and on budget while maintaining our superior safety reputation.”

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn