Corporate Management Programs

Health and Safety Program

Sovereign's Corporate Health and Safety Program provide our personnel with the expertise needed to identify, evaluate, and control industrial safety and health hazards. Our program, which goes beyond compliance, is designed to enable Sovereign personnel to effectively apply safety practices at each of our project sites. All Sovereign employees who perform work in the field receive OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120 40-Hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Training with annual refreshers, as well as any additional OSHA training required for site work such as HAZWOPER Site Supervisor and Confined Space Entry training. Additionally, Sovereign’s Defensive Driver training program utilizes National Safety Council certified instructors. We have received numerous awards from clients in recognition of our outstanding health and safety performance.

Our Health and Safety Program encompasses pretask hazard assessments, including HAZ ID and HAZOP reviews where applicable, preparation of site-specific, OSHA-compliant Health and Safety Plans (HASPs), preparation of task work authorizations and permits where applicable, tailgate safety meetings, near miss/HSSE observation reporting, site safety audits, and behavior-based safety observation programs. Sovereign also routinely conducts offsite safety meetings with staff and subcontractors to review safety performance and identify improvement opportunities.

Quality Control Program

The firm has a strong and long-standing commitment to bringing cost-effective solutions to our clients. Successful projects are realized by establishing our clients’ needs and acceptable risk, while minimizing overall costs and project duration. Achieving desired levels of quality requires the total commitment of all Sovereign employees and subcontractors to our ethic that quality, health and safety, and compliance must come before profits.

Sovereign's commitment to quality begins with our management personnel, who ensure quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) at every level of the project team. At Sovereign, we plan for quality at project inception and throughout the life of each project. We believe quality permeates every aspect of our project planning, execution, and closeout. Sovereign tailors our QA/QC program to the specific requirements of the project as well as the budgetary aspects of project implementation. In order to enable them to conduct QA/QC audits, our federal project personnel receive appropriate quality management training such as the USACE Construction Quality Management for Contractors course.

Subcontract Management Program

Sovereign's subcontractor management program is designed to ensure the risk, liability, and costs of subcontracted services are managed consistently. Our program results in the selection of competent contractors who perform safely and at competitive, “best-value” prices. To protect our clients’ interests, Sovereign practices prime contract flow-down to its subcontractors whenever appropriate.

Prior to accepting a company as a subcontractor, Sovereign performs a vigorous review of the subcontractor’s qualifications and safety records to ensure that they are compliant with Sovereign and client expectations, as well as contractual obligations. Subcontractors submit a prequalification statement that includes financial data, safety records, bonding capacity, and other information regarding their business.

Sovereign's purchases and subcontracts are based on a competitive “best-value” approach to the maximum extent practical. Sovereign maintains an extensive bidders list to identify firms by type of services, quality reputation, business location, EMR ratings, Health and Safety records, and business classification. We require that all subcontractors maintain minimum levels of insurance to meet client obligations.

Value Engineering

Sovereign strives to provide our clients with high quality service in the most cost effective manner possible. We have developed methods to implement value added alternatives to help reduce project costs and increase quality and usability, while maintaining the intent of the design. Sovereign is committed to identifying value added alternatives to all projects to significantly reduce construction costs and provide savings to our clients. Performing value engineering review throughout the life cycle of the project allows Sovereign to make necessary changes in the design/construction to benefit our clients, while adhering to cost and schedule controls.