Baldwin Paving is one of Georgia’s largest and most trusted heavy civil contractors, known for delivering large-scale roadway, and commercial paving projects across the state. With nine active asphalt plants and hundreds of workers in the field, they keep much of Georgia’s infrastructure moving.

As the company expanded, so did the complexity of managing safety and compliance. “With over 400 employees across multiple job sites, outdated systems and manual processes made it difficult to track credentials, enforce policies, and stay ahead of potential risks,” stated Bruce Roeder, Director of Risk & Safety at Baldwin Paving. Internal project leaders and site safety professionals were stretched thin, and leadership recognized the need for outside support.

That’s when Baldwin partnered with HB NEXT and embraced its Compliance Partner Program (CPP). The goal was to rebuild the company’s safety foundation by strengthening policies, digitizing records, and creating a long-term partnership that supported Baldwin’s cultural shift toward accountability and prevention.

The Challenge

As Baldwin Paving grew, so did the risks, and the cracks in their safety program began to show. With field crews, asphalt plants, and a large fleet to manage, staying compliant became harder by the day.

Key Issues Identified

• High Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 6.82, which was more than 230% above the industry average.
• Vehicle Out-of-Service rate was 26%, well above the national average.
• Training and credential records were stored inconsistently across digital spreadsheets and paper files.
• Supervisors lacked fast access to worker training records in the field.
• Limited documentation of enforcement and follow-up actions.
• Ineffective HazMat re-training schedule to keep CDL drivers in compliance.
• Safety teams were spending most of their time reacting to downtime incidents rather than advancing worker safety.

Baldwin knew they needed more than just a fix, they needed a system that could grow with them, protect their workforce, and create lasting accountability across every job site.

The Solution

HB NEXT implemented its Compliance Partner Program (CPP), a three-part solution built to modernize and streamline compliance across Baldwin’s operations:

• Safety consulting to build Baldwin’s safety foundation
• Sequence XT Software (included in CPP) to track credentials, incidents, and inspections
• Managed Services to deliver field support and maintain compliance momentum

At the onset of the partnership, HB NEXT Safety Consultants and Baldwin’s staff teamed up to build a compliance framework that spanned asphalt production, civil construction, and commercial paving operations. Deliverables from the compliance framework phase included comprehensive policies, documentation, training courseware, inspections, and enforcement procedures in both English and Spanish.

Baldwin credits the up-front effort to build a scalable compliance framework with driving year-over-year safety metrics improvements.

The full CPP bundle gave Baldwin the visibility, consistency, and accountability they needed, across every plant, job site, and fleet operation, with support that flexes as their needs evolve.

Operational Support Included

In the next phase of the partnership, the Sequence XT software was populated with Baldwin’s project and staff data and customized to support their inspection, credentialing, and reporting needs. The HB NEXT team provided role-based training for safety professionals, team members and management.

HB NEXT’s Managed Services team worked side-by-side with Baldwin’s internal safety team to implement improved processes for:

• Quarterly safety performance reviews with leadership
• Guidance during insurance and broker renewal meetings
• Hands-on data cleanup and digitization of training documentation
• A phased shift in daily responsibilities, with HB NEXT continuing to support Baldwin’s safety leaders through Managed Services as needed

With HB NEXT handling the heavy lift on compliance, Baldwin’s safety leaders gained the time and tools to focus on culture-building, worker engagement, and proactive safety leadership with ongoing support always within reach.

The Results

Over five years, Baldwin Paving achieved measurable improvement across compliance, safety and profitability outcomes like Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART), and Experience Modification Rate (EMR).

Performance Improvements

Metric	Baseline	Performance	Improvement
TRIR	6.82	~2.0	↓ ~70%
DART Rate	4.96	1.0–1.5	↓ ~70%
Vehicle Out-of-Service Rate	26.1%	<10%	↓ ~60%
Corrective Findings per Inspection	3.5 per visit	1.2 per visit	↓ ~65%
Positive Observations on Inspections	35%	70%+	↑ ~100%
EMR	1.21	0.68	↓ ~44%

Cultural Impact

• Supervisors now lead proactive corrective actions before audits.
• Training documentation is current and accessible in the field.
• Field teams have a stronger sense of ownership in safety practices.
• The company conducts regular safety reviews supported by real-time data.

Insurance and Operational Impact

• EMR reduced by nearly 44%, contributing to significant insurance savings.
• Reduced incident-related downtime and worker replacement costs.
• Leadership gained clear insight into priorities and progress.

Client Feedback

Baldwin’s leadership credited HB NEXT with helping them turn a complicated compliance challenge into a long-term success story. With the full CPP structure in place, Baldwin stabilized operations and took confident ownership of their safety performance, while continuing to rely on HB NEXT’s tools, guidance, and staffing support as needed.

“HB NEXT helped us stabilize our safety program, clean up our documentation, and build accountability. Our teams now have tools and processes that make safety part of how we work every day.”

Today, Baldwin continues to use the Sequence XT software, a key component of the Compliance Partner Program, to manage compliance and maintain consistency across operations. The structure is built, the culture has shifted, and teamwork between HB NEXT and Baldwin Paving is confidently driving safety forward.

Conclusion

The Baldwin–HB NEXT partnership proves what’s possible when safety becomes a strategy, not just a checklist. With the right structure in place through the Compliance Partner Program, Baldwin transformed their compliance systems, and the results speak for themselves.

Baldwin now operates with:

• Significantly lower incident rates
• Improved fleet and DOT compliance
• Reliable, real-time training documentation
• A safety-first culture that empowers every employee

And while the level of day-to-day support may shift over time, Baldwin continues to count on HB NEXT as a trusted partner in long-term compliance success.

Next Step

If your safety team is stretched thin, buried in paperwork, or struggling to keep up with compliance demands, you don’t have to go it alone. The HB NEXT Compliance Partner Program (CPP) is built to fill the gaps, stabilize your processes, and give your team the structure and support to lead with confidence.

See what’s possible when the right structure, tools, and support are in place. Let’s find out where your risks are, and how to fix them.

Schedule your complimentary program assessment today.