Hi everyone this is Kevin. Today is January 4th, 2021. Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope you had a safe and restful holiday break.
To kick off 2021, I’d like to focus on our #1 priority—keeping ourselves and our fellow employees safe. Just like last year, we have set a high standard that no injuries are acceptable at Electric Boat. While we’ve made significant progress in 2020 with our best ever OSHA recordable incident and lost work day rates—and I thank you for your commitment to working safely—we are not yet the safest shipyard in the country. Period. We can become the safest shipyard in our business by adopting what we’re calling a Total Safety Culture. A Total Safety Culture is something that was developed at NASSCO that drove them to achieve industry-leading safety performance over several years. A Total Safety Culture is focused on accountability at every level of our organization. It is not driven across EB by the management team telling people to “be safe.” It is driven by all of the employees because each employee understands the behaviors that result in working injury free and in ensuring we hold ourselves and each other accountable to a standard for safety. A Total Safety Culture requires active participation by each of us because we have made safety a habit.
To start, we’ll need to work on enhancing our safety awareness and focus—identifying those behaviors that are risky and more likely to lead to injury. It’s easy to fall into bad habits or not “see” risks that have become part of the background, especially if you’ve been doing something a certain way for a long time. For this reason, we’re launching Safe Worker and Safe Supervisor programs to help people identify risky behaviors and constructively change. We’re also creating a Safe Room training facility in the Groton shipyard and at Quonset Point as well. This room will be set up with a variety of safety challenges for people to identify—i.e., people should be able to enter this room and identify “what’s wrong here?” If we all know what safe “looks like,” we can do a better job in making sure our work environment is set up for success.
We’re also committing to doubling the Safe Site Audits we conduct at the Groton shipyard and Quonset Point facility by the end of 2021. A Safe Site audit evaluates an area within our facility and assigns a letter “grade” based on established criteria that could include housekeeping, line and lead control, fire extinguisher maintenance, among many others. This process also helps train our Operations leaders on what a safe work site looks like and ensures identified problems are fixed and not just simply tolerated.
By taking these initial steps to increase our awareness and commit as an organization to having each other’s backs on safety, we will continue to make progress toward an injury-free workplace.
In 2020 across EB, we had our best year ever with regard to safety. Because of your efforts, 427 fewer people were injured and got to go home to their family and friends in the same condition they came to work.
I hope that in the not-too-distant future, I will be able to end a message on safety, like this one, with no mention of COVID. And, I think we’re getting closer, with the Moderna vaccine now being deployed in the U.S. in addition to the Pfizer vaccine. Our Medical Team is working to expand our access to rapid testing technologies for all employees, so that we can run tests ourselves with faster results. Over the break, we received three rapid-test machines that we are working to get set up and operational. I will keep you posted on progress.
In the meantime, we have winter to get through and, if you’re keeping an eye on COVID positivity rates like I am, you recognize COVID is at record high levels across the country. According to the TSA, Saturday set a record for the highest number of Americans traveling through our airports since the start of the pandemic. People moving around will most certainly add to the positivity rate. Over the break, we also learned about a new strain of COVID that is as much as 70% more contagious than the previous strain.
So now, more than any time during this pandemic, please protect yourself, your loved ones and your co-workers. Continue to practice the 3 W’s: Wear a mask, Wash your hands, and Watch your distance. Those of you who can work from home should do so, and if you feel sick, please don’t come to work.
Thank you for all the great work you do for our company and our nation. Let’s all commit to a safe and successful 2021, and look forward to our lives feeling more like they did pre-COVID by the end of 2021.
Thanks for listening; we’ll talk again soon.
Kevin
Building 600 Tech Stop Relocation
On Monday, August 3, 2026, Facilities will be relocating the Tech Stop currently located in Building 600 4th Floor East to its new location in Building 130-01 Classroom 7. During this time, please utilize the alternate Tech Stop location: B708 (625 Long Hill Road) Hours: Monday – Friday: 7:00 am – 3:00 pm The tech stop will resume...Continue reading→
A Message From Mark Rayha: Historic Contracts/Rayha Report
Today marks one of the most significant moments in Electric Boat’s history. As part of its $76.6 billion submarine contract announcement, the U.S. Navy has awarded Electric Boat ship construction contracts valued at $29.5 billion for five Columbia-class submarines and $42.1 billion for nine Virginia-class submarines, along with incentives for shipyard infrastructure. Click here to read the...Continue reading→
Electric Boat featured in latest episode of ‘Cast in Steel’
General Dynamics Electric Boat is featured in the latest episode of Cast in Steel, a web series that showcases the leaders of America’s steel industry as part of their competition to promote careers in metalworking. The Cast in Steel team visited our Quonset Point facility to highlight how EB’s shipbuilders transform flat steel into nuclear...Continue reading→
EB’s Groton Shipyard Celebrates 100 Years of Submarine Construction
The first submarine ever built in Electric Boat’s Groton shipyard slid gracefully from its ways into the Thames River 100 years ago, taking to the water with “scarcely a splash” before a crowd of 1,500, according to newspaper accounts at the time. A century after the 800-ton, 200-foot-long R2 was launched, EB shipbuilders continue to...Continue reading→
President Trump Gives Our Submarines a Shoutout at Pennsylvania Innovation and Defense Summit
During his remarks at the Pennsylvania Innovation and Defense Summit held on July 15 at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA, President Donald Trump introduced attendee Danny Deep, president of General Dynamics. In his quick words to Danny, President Trump recognized General Dynamics for building “the greatest submarines in the world.” Continue reading→
Rayha Report Ep. 23: Matt Olander Honored by UConn College of Engineering
In this episode of the Rayha Report, EB President Mark Rayha speaks with Matt Olander, senior vice president of programs and engineering, about his personal career journey and recent return to UConn’s College of Engineering as an honorary degree recipient and 2026 commencement speaker. Watch Matt’s commencement speech on the UConn College of Engineering YouTube channel.Continue reading→
Rayha Report Ep. 22: Run to Home Base 2026
In his latest Rayha Report, EB President Mark Rayha talks with Run to Home Base co-chair Tammee Sweck and runners Amy and Greyson Stephenson about why this annual fundraiser means so much to our veterans, service members, and their families. Learn how Team General Dynamics is preparing for the July 25 event at Fenway Park...Continue reading→
Rayha Report Ep. 21: Backstage With Chris Stapleton
In the latest Rayha Report, EB President Mark Rayha hit the road for a backstage chat with American singer-songwriter and guitarist Chris Stapleton. Chris is not only an extraordinary artist, but someone whose values resonate deeply with the people of Electric Boat: pride in craftsmanship, respect for hard work and a genuine love for this...Continue reading→
Happy Fourth of July
As America marks its 250th birthday, we celebrate the generations of shipbuilders whose skill and commitment have strengthened our nation, and especially thank our current generation of EB shipbuilders for all you’re doing to meet this challenging moment in history. Happy Fourth of July.
Electric Boat and SENEDIA Celebrate 10,000-Graduate Milestone
We are proud to recognize a major workforce milestone with the Southeastern New England Defense Industry Alliance (SENEDIA), one of Electric Boat’s key training and workforce development partners. At an event on July 1, 2026, held at the Westerly Education Center, SENEDIA celebrated the 10,000th graduate to complete the New England Submarine Shipbuilding Partnership—a regional...Continue reading→
