Constructing Excellence award win for H&S initiative

An initiative by the Health, Safety, Environment and Quality department to reduce incidents and improve incident reporting throughout the business was recognised by the judges for demonstrating a ‘strong safety culture in the very fabric of the business’.

The NWRCA judges’ citation read:

Russell WBHO: Accident Reduction by Education & Information Program

“A brilliant submission with extensive evidence-based argument that addressed all of the areas of the criteria. Demonstrating a strong safety culture in the very fabric of the business, clear outcomes were identified with measured improvements in the new operational procedures. The student programme and embedding training to all levels of the company was very inventive.” 

The initiative saw the firm’s Building Student trainees come together with experienced site staff to review and assess health and safety issues, both theoretically and in response to real-life examples.

Encouraging dialogue between the students and site staff allowed best practice to be shared, new information to be learned, better relationships to be built, and a more open and forward-thinking H&S culture to be developed. In response, there was a reduction in incidents and an increase in incident reporting across the business.

The win is a fitting endorsement to the programme which was led by a proactive HSEQ team which is dedicated to embedding H&S values in every department.

Head of Health and Safety, Darren Williams said: “Our overriding strategy is designed to demonstrate the importance of H&S considerations at every stage of a project and encourage every member of staff to see it as their own personal responsibility.

“Embedding those principles in the minds of our Building Student trainees is key and the initiative has provided platform for greater discussion about H&S issues throughout the business which has led to positive results in terms of incident reduction and reporting increase.”

Russell WBHO was shortlisted in five categories for the NWRCA 2022 (Contractor of the Year, People Development, Health Safety and Well Being, the Value Award and Project of the Year for Oxygen Towers) and received a Highly Commended in the Value Award category for the Oxygen Towers project.

Held in partnership with Constructing Excellence in the North West, the Awards are hosted by the School of Science, Engineering and Environment at the University of Salford and the Centre for Construction Innovation.

Professor Peter McDermott, chair of Constructing Excellence in the North West, from the University of Salford said: “We have been extremely impressed with the list of entrants this year, giving all our judges a challenge to decide the 2022 winners. The awards continue to provide a space to share innovation and best practice as well as demonstrating the contribution of the sector to improved social value, and economic and environmental outcomes.”

The full list of winners can be found here.