Three women in hard hats and safety vests on project site.

Impact Report

Our People

Bechtel CEO Brendan Bechtel recognizing employee Mike Stewart for 30 years of service at Bechtel with a signed certificate and handshake.

Investing in
Our People

Bechtel’s success over the last 126 years is a testament to the quality of our people and their incredible talents, from engineers and project managers to skilled craft professionals and construction experts. We seek colleagues with diverse and global perspectives who live for a challenge and are powered by curiosity and the desire to make a difference.

And we invest in their success. Bechtel works every day to foster a culture that empowers each colleague to do their best work and reach their full potential. We encourage colleagues to explore, think innovatively, and pursue opportunities to grow professionally.

Placing Safety and Wellbeing Above All

At Bechtel, we place safety and wellbeing above all. It’s a core value of ours. Every day, tens of thousands of colleagues go to work on Bechtel projects around the world. Nothing is more important than ensuring that they, and those who live in the communities where we work, return home safely to their families at the end of the day.

Every Incident is
Preventable

We believe that every on-the-job injury and environmental incident is preventable. Our commitment to preventing incidents is integrated into every aspect of our planning and work execution through our risk-based Environmental, Safety, and Health (ES&H) Management System. This system requires a relentless focus on protecting people, ensuring consistent execution, and continuous improvement.

Group of people wearing safety vests and hard hats.

Three people in safety gear working together on a project.

Three Bechtel Equipment Operations team members wearing safety gear in conversation.

How We Do It

Zero
Incident Goal

We strive to achieve zero occupational injuries and illnesses, damage to property, and harm to the environment and local communities.

How We Do It

Ownership and Responsibility

We establish ES&H leadership at all levels and functional groups, and encourage individual ownership and responsibility for program effectiveness.

How We Do It

Community and Environmental Protection

We consistently apply safe work practices and measures to protect the environment and the wellbeing of local communities.

How We Do It

Quality and Compliance

We measure and evaluate our performance so we can continually improve, supporting best practices, quality, and innovation while complying with regulatory, corporate, and project requirements.

How We Do It

Committed Partners

We select partners who share our values and equally demonstrate a commitment to "Zero Incident Performance."

Industry-Leading Safety
Performance

Rates calculated following OSHA 29 CFR 1904

Our longstanding commitment to zero incidents has enabled us to steadily reduce recordable and lost time incident rates. Our rates are among the lowest in the industry and significantly outperform the comparable industry benchmarks.

Our 2023 total recordable incident rate was 0.163, a historic low for Bechtel. Total recordable incident rate is a standard safety measure used by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration that reflects the number of recordable injuries per 100 full-time workers during a one-year period.

0.163

2023 Total Recordable Incident Rate

A historic low
for Bechtel.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Bechtel

Bechtel and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Person wearing a hard hat using a level.

Our safety culture is built on decades of experience developing and implementing the training, equipment, processes, and procedures needed to perform our work responsibly—many of which have helped to define new industry standards. While we're proud of our achievements, we know that our work in this area will never be done. That’s why we’re committed to helping to transfer knowledge and best practices to our industry colleagues and partners in the regions where we work, ensuring that safety remains a universal commitment.

For example, in Egypt we partnered with BP, Petrojet, and the Egyptian General Petroleum Company to establish the first advanced training center for safety in Ain Sokhna. The training center helps standardize safe working practices in the Egyptian petroleum sector through hands-on practical training and instructor-led courses. Bechtel will conduct training in accordance with the latest international safety standards while improving adherence to these standards and promoting technical trades in the surrounding communities.

Bechtel team members in safety gear stretching.

Increasing Our Focus on
Mental Health

The mental health of our colleagues is an essential component of their safety and wellbeing.

Our efforts to elevate and address mental health, including the Bechtel Mental Health Program—a critical aspect of ES&H—and Human Centered Performance training, aim to remove the stigma associated with mental health and illness, provide guidance on maintaining a healthy mental wellbeing, show colleagues how to seek assistance and build emotional resilience, and offer a framework for incorporating mental health into our project Safety & Health Management Plans.

Bechtel employee Kara Apperson holding certificate of completion for Adult Mental Health First Aid USA Virtual Instructor training.

At the Corpus Christi Liquefaction (CCL) project for Cheniere in Texas, for example, we trained over 100 Bechtel and Cheniere colleagues to become mindful mental health first aiders dedicated to supporting the mental health of all team members on the project.

Bechtel executives making an announcement in the office of the American Society for Suicide Prevention in front of a window.

Confronting Suicide in the Construction Community

In 2023, Bechtel began a new multi-year partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to address the high suicide rates in the U.S. construction industry, which tragically, are twice as high as the general population. As a natural extension of our historic commitment to safety, we believe in treating mental health—and suicide prevention specifically—with the same determined focus that we have successfully brought to physical health.

Through Bechtel’s $7 million grant—the single largest donation from the Bechtel Group Foundation and the largest ever received by AFSP—to start, we will develop and provide critical resources and programming to 500,000 U.S. construction workers over the next five years. While our initial efforts will begin in the U.S., we soon plan to expand our focus beyond the U.S. and create similar partnerships across the globe.

Promoting a Culture of Belonging

As a global company, Bechtel has long been home to a vibrant multitude of nationalities, cultures, ethnicities, and life experiences. Our diversity has made us a more trusted partner, more effective problem solvers and innovators, and a more attractive destination for leading talent.

We are committed to being a company where every colleague feels that they belong—where colleagues feel part of “One Team,” respected and rewarded for what they bring, supported in pursuing their goals, invested in our values and purpose, and treated equitably.

Bechtel.org project manager Tara Pillai.

“
We have a term in India, unity and diversity. To me, that term perfectly fits Bechtel. We are such diverse people across the globe. But what threads us all together is a Bechtel culture.
”
-Tara Pillai Project Manager, bechtel.org

Celebrating Our Differences

Our Business Resource Groups (BRGs) play an active role in helping us understand and address the dynamic needs of our colleagues, customers, and the communities we serve. They are a vital component of our global D&I efforts, driving colleague engagement, providing insights and opportunities, and bridging cultural differences. We have eight BRGs whose memberships keep growing.

B-BOLD
Supporting our Black Community
B-FAMILIA
Supporting our Latinx Communitiy
B-PRO
Supporting Professional Development
B-PROUD
Supporting our LGBTQ+ Community
BSERV
Supporting our Veteran Community
Women@Bechtel
Supporting our Female Colleagues
B-InspirAsian
Supporting our Asian Community
Boundless@Bechtel
Supporting Disability Inclusion

Bechtel BSERV members in front of a Bechtel-branded 'Supporting Our Veterans' sign.

Bechtel team members waving rainbow pride flags.

Three Bechtel team members at the B-InspirAsian Diwali Celebration.

Brendan Bechtel with Bechtel team members at Women's Leadership Conference.

In 2023, we introduced Boundless@Bechtel, a new BRG committed to disability inclusion. This group empowers individuals with visible and invisible disabilities, their families, and caregivers. To advocate for and support our global networks, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, in partnership with our executive leaders, hosted a two-day summit focused on fostering collaboration and sharing best practices for engagement. The actions and recommendations identified during the summit are now being implemented for the upcoming year.

A group of people attending the National Society of Black Engineers Conference.

Partnering with Advocates for Diversity and Inclusion

Progress on diversity and inclusion is a collective challenge. We proudly collaborate with external partners who share our commitment to diversity and inclusion, and advancing underrepresented communities across STEM fields.

In 2023, Bechtel partnered with Disability:IN to create a more inclusive workplace. Together, we empower individuals with disabilities, foster diversity, drive accessibility, and create opportunities to ensure everyone can contribute with their unique talents.

In partnership with Catalyst, Bechtel launched the Men Advocating for Real Change (MARC) Dialogue Teams program in 2020. With more than 1,300 colleagues participating in the program worldwide since 2020, this program helps to support and promote an inclusive workplace.

Our partners

Taking a Global & Local Approach

In addition to our global D&I programs, we have also created region-specific programs to support diversity at the local level in the communities where we operate across the world.

Bechtel team member wearing a hard hat and safety goggles.

Bechtel in the U.K.

In 2023, Bechtel was named “Company of the Year” by the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers U.K. (AFBE-U.K.) for our efforts to help increase the participation and support of individuals from these underrepresented groups in the engineering and construction industry.

Bechtel in Chile

The team recently renewed its commitment to gender equality through the recertification of the “Sello Iguala Conciliación” (NCh3262), a national certification for workplaces that advocate for gender equity, support inclusion, identify gender pay gaps, prevent workplace harassment, and promote work-life balance. Bechtel Chile Construcción was also recognized as the Best Company to Work for in Chile in 2023.

A Photography Exhibition to Celebrate Female Role Models in the Construction Industry

We were delighted to co-sponsor SHE BUILDS U.K. — an initiative using portrait photography to celebrate female role models in construction. It featured a pop-up exhibition in London, a larger online exhibition, and an appeal for women from across the industry to inspire others. This was the brainchild of Neil Perry, who decided to act after his seven-year-old daughter commented that “only men are builders.”

Bechtel President and COO Craig Albert and a fellow Bechtel team member in safety gear shaking hands on a project site.

Providing Opportunities
for Growth

Supporting Professional Development

We are committed to providing colleagues with the tools that foster learning and maximize individual performance. At Bechtel, colleagues can expect many training and development opportunities to learn new skills, gain certifications, and advance their careers. Our approach combines Bechtel-designed training, industry programs, and training developed by the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).

Women in Science and Engineering

Bechtel has previously collaborated with Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) to support the participation and success of women in the U.K. STEM workforce. WISE helped ensure our job descriptions were written to be inclusive, resulting in more than 20% of new hires coming from diverse populations.

Two women wearing safety gear reviewing project plans.

Creating a Positive Legacy

In 2019, we created bechtel.org, a social enterprise to utilize our company’s unique engineering and construction expertise to improve the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people living in underserved communities around the world. We place immense value on the growth and development opportunities bechtel.org affords our people.

Bechtel colleagues worldwide can join a bechtel.org project and use their skills to pursue innovative ideas and solutions in mission-aligned areas like electrification and digital connectivity, food security, land regeneration, and climate-resilient housing, all to support community wellbeing. The experience allows colleagues to transfer their knowledge and experience into commercial projects when their work with bechtel.org is finished, thereby supporting career growth and strengthening our most valuable assets—our people.

Learn more about bechtel.org

Growing Diverse Teams

We’re recruiting and attracting more diverse candidates than ever before. We are training colleagues in hiring and recruiting positions to recognize possible biases through a “recruiting through a diversity lens” training, helping them become more aware of potential biases when interviewing candidates and making hiring decisions.

Hadeel Bedaiwi, ES&H Specialist at Bechtel.

“
I am so honored that Bechtel selected me as the first Saudi female to work in safety. I represent a new generation of Saudi women.
”
-Hadeel Bedaiwi ES&H Specialist, Bechtel

Our People

Investing in
Our People

Placing Safety and Wellbeing Above All

Zero
Incident Goal

Ownership and Responsibility

Community and Environmental Protection

Quality and Compliance

Committed Partners

Increasing Our Focus on
Mental Health

Confronting Suicide in the Construction Community

Promoting a Culture of Belonging

Celebrating Our Differences

Celebrating Our Differences