BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2005--An elite coalition of companies and corporations from around the world, which includes Birmingham based BE&K, Inc., the engineering and construction giant, has signed the first-ever "World Safety Declaration," a commitment to advance workplace and home safety practices globally.

The coalition signed and announced the declaration at the XVII World Congress of Safety and Health at Work held in Orlando, Florida. The declaration calls for participating companies "to affect real-world change to achieve an attainable goal of increased safety and injury reduction."

The global coalition of the "World Safety Declaration" includes 15 founding companies, headquartered in various countries. In addition to BE&K, those companies include, DuPont, General Electric, CEMEX, Reliance, British Petroleum, TATA Steel, Calvert, Fluor Services, Rohn & Hass, TATA Chemicals, Evergreen Aviation Technologies, Aker Kvaerner Services, Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes and Hindustan Lever.

The World Congress on Safety and Health, which is held every three years, draws together thousands of key leaders and influencers of workplace safety policy from industry, government and labor - to present and discuss emerging safety research, trends, best practices and innovations in the workplace.

BE&K is an industry leader in safety, with five BE&K projects achieving OSHA Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) "Star" status. BE&K was most recently awarded the prestigious title of safety "Star" in September.

BE&K, is one of the Southeast's largest employee owned and privately held companies, with operations in pulp and paper construction, power/cogeneration construction, and process industrial and manufacturing construction. The company, which serves both the public and private sectors, has received numerous awards, including being chosen as one of the top 100 companies to work for by Fortune and Working Mother magazines. BE&K has earned multiple national and regional Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Excellence in Construction awards, and BE&K Construction recently received the Crystal Vision Award from the National Association of Women in Construction. Committed to being a good citizen in its communities, the BE&K Partners in Education (PE) program has earned recognition from the National Council for Corporate and School Partnerships.

For more information on BE&K, please contact Susan Wasley at (205)
972-6688 or visit the company website at www.bek.com.

Copyright Business Wire 2005

BE&K, Inc.

BE&K, Inc.

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