Issue 10 of Innovation Today is available to read now!

PPE is vital within any site environment, in order to ensure that your workforce are adequately equipped to carry out their work safely and to ensure that they are fully protected from potential safety hazards.  A contractor has a legal obligation to demonstrate a duty of care towards its workforce. A number of sites require a five point PPE uniform, which must…

All sites are legally required to display the current HSE health and safety law poster. Posters should be displayed in a prominent position, so that the workforce are aware of the information available and can easily read the poster at all times. The Health and safety law poster was most recently updated in April 2014. Many sites downloaded leaflets and pocket…

It is essential that every site gives careful consideration to its potential impact on the natural environment. As part of the environmental plan,  there should be safe working practices for dealing with hazardous waste, to ensure that it is stored, handled and transported correctly. Arrangements should be made for appropriate refuelling areas, and bunded tanks, drip trays and spill kits should…

Regular involvement in fundraising or charity work, can have a hugely positive impact upon the local community. As part of CCS commitment, constructors are encouraged to support local communities and neighbourhoods; building good relations and improving the image of the site, company and industry as a whole. There are so many worthy causes out there, but choosing a charity which…

The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning is Macmillan Cancer Support’s biggest charity fundraising event. This event focuses on getting together to have a chat and a cup of tea and inviting people to make a donation to Macmillan Cancer Support. To support Macmillan Coffee Morning on your site, you could do the following: Arrange a Macmillan Coffee Morning and encourage all of your operatives…

It is important that the aims and progress of construction work, are made transparent to the local community. This can be achieved by distributing frequent letters, newsletters or bulletins to keep the public constantly updated and help to minimise any frustrations which may arise. Constant communication between the site and community should be made a priority by all contractors. The Considerate Constructors Scheme have…

Sites should display a daily hazard board to provide up to date information to operatives and visitors. Relevant risk information and safety systems should be in place to ensure safety levels are maintained and to minimise the risk of accidents, injuries and fatalities. Examples of how sites have identified potential hazards and provided information on site, include: A red signing-in sheet was used on…

The Scheme provides all registered sites, companies and suppliers with material to display inside and outside their sites or places of work to promote their registration to both the public and their workforce. When construction activity begins, communities may be wary of the work due to the poor image associated with the industry. By promoting registration through displaying Scheme signage,…

Safety initiatives to encourage positive safety attitudes and behaviour should involve everyone. Learning from real-life accidents can be a powerful way of ensuring that the workforce fully understand the dangers and safety implications of working on a construction site. Following the success of Jason’s story regarding his fall from a ladder at the age of 24, he launched a new…

Skanska have developed the ‘Injury Free Environment’ initiative, to get workers focused on safety. Employees in the construction industry are often exposed to physically heavy workloads and tough conditions and the industry generally suffers from high levels of absenteeism. With this in mind, Skanska encouraged more than 600 construction workers in Nashville, to take part in a 10 minute stretch and flex workout…

A toolbox talk is a short health and safety talk delivered to the workforce, which is focused on a specific site related subject, e.g. ‘fragile roofs.’ The messages are short and clear, with the aim to reinforce regular safety messages and continuously raise awareness. By delivering toolbox talks and sharing best practice in this way, this should help to reduce the number…

Improvement opportunity: At the occupational nurse’s visit it was found that smoking on site was 3 times as high (61%) as the national average in Britain (19%); As a result Berkeley Homes (West London) Ltd decided to focus on an anti-smoking campaign; A large proportion of the workforce comes from Romania and Lithuania; The high proportion of smokers could be culturally related. Proposal:…