entries found
Tinnitus Tailor App
At a Project Scheme Champion’s meeting, one subcontractor advised on their issues with tinnitus and how they have managed the condition by using a mobile phone app. The Tinnitis Tailor app provides background sound therapy, which greatly reduces the effects of tinnitus. As tinnitus is a common condition (affecting around 30% of people) and brought about by changes in noise...
Medical ID and Emergency Contact Details 
To encourage the safety of the operatives on and off site, The Broadway project has requested for all operatives to update their medical information and emergency contact details on their smart phones. This phone feature allows details to be viewed even when the phone is locked, therefore easily accessible in the case of an emergency. Information such as allergies, blood...
Providing Vulnerable Operatives with Hearing Aid Batteries
On the Brighton Road site, operatives with hearing impairments are employed. Following a previous incident whereby an operative’s hearing aids failed, the Site Manager now keeps a supply of hearing aid batteries on site in case of failure, to ensure operatives can continue working.
Public Health England: Health Harms Campaign
Public Health England are running a ‘Health Harms’ campaign to encourage smokers to quit in 2019. This national campaign will illustrate the harm caused by smoking, drive smokers to reconsider their habit, encourage them to search ‘Smokefree’ for help to quit, and increase understanding of the dangers of smoking. The campaign includes lots of free tools and resources to help those trying...
Overcoming Ovarian Cancer
On the Royal Albert Project we work alongside many contractors on encouraging women into construction and assist them with developing new skills to progress within the construction industry. We have developed over the course of our project to get women into construction have meant the increase in female employees has reached over 70. On the project we have many occupational...
Tackling Tuberculosis
The Royal Albert Dock project is based in Newham, London where according to new figures from a health watchdog more people catch Tuberculosis (TB) than in some sub-Saharan countries due to new tests and treatments being neglected. Out of every 100,000 people in Newham, around 118 will contract TB – a potentially fatal, infectious disease which normally affects the lungs....
Health and Wellbeing Awareness Weeks
To promote health and wellbeing amongst our employees and sub-contractors, we hold a Health and Wellbeing Awareness Week every year. For five days we promote and provide all of the following: NHS Health and Lifestyle Check Diabetes Prevention Adult Weight Management Mental Health Wellbeing Free sexual health tests Smoking Cessation Green gyms Alcohol Awareness
Breast Cancer: Not Just for Women!
Wooldridge Demolition value the health and wellbeing of each member of staff. We are always looking to offer support, advice and awareness to our site workers about different health issues that they might be affected by. Whilst we all probably think of women when talking about breast cancer, we often forget about the fact that men can get it too....
Breast Cancer Awareness
With breast cancer still being the most common cancer in the UK, about one in eight women being diagnosed with it during their lifetime and 390 men diagnosed each year in the UK, we offered the opportunity to talk about it onsite and learn about the vital early symptoms spotting that can potentially not only save your own life but...
Food Allergy/ Intolerance Awareness Week
The week commencing 14th May was Food Allergy/ Intolerance Awareness Week. Food allergies and intolerances can go undetected for years, leaving you feeling sluggish, fatigued, nauseous and with digestive issues including cramps, diarrhoea, constipation and bloating. Food Allergy/ Intolerance Awareness week aims to make you aware of the signs and symptoms and what food alternatives you can try if you...
Interactive health games to raise workforce awareness 
As part of the site’s 2018 Health drive a set of interactive health games were devised to promote health issues including a ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ cancer awareness game. The game starts with a pack of slides covering cancer issues and information plus advice then moves on to the game. The game is interactive and all the workforce...
Wrist band aid: health, safety and welfare
The three main ways we alert first aiders on GRAHAM sites to a casualty’s possible underlying symptoms are all PPE related so as long as the site operative is wearing their PPE the First Aid alert should be present. This system does not take into account the wearing of somebody else’s Hard Hat or High Vis Vest which can happen...
Ensuring Fitness to Work
For construction workers, especially safety-critical workers like plant operators, it is vital that they are medically capable of undertaking the work required. There is a great risk of harm to the operative, their colleagues and the wider public if they are not fit for the work in question. For instance, health conditions which can involve sudden loss of consciousness, impaired...
Cancer awareness
Galliford Try’s Colindale Office project have displayed cancer awareness posters in both the female and male toilets reminding them to check themselves regularly. This is a simple but effective solution to raising awareness of these issues. These posters are displayed on the back of each cubicle door.
Safety Boot Tags
In a high-risk environment like a construction site, it is essential that procedures are in place in case of emergency. Many sites now put tags on operatives’ hard hats displaying medical information which could save someone’s life if they have been in an accident. See the examples below for how one site further developed this safety initiative: Placed ‘in case...
The Sides of March
The Sides of March is a month-long charity event organised by the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM). The event encourages men to grow their sideburns to raise money for CALM, and raise awareness of their efforts to prevent male suicide. Suicide is the single biggest killer of British men under the age of 45, with men accounting for 75% of...
First Aider Business Cards
With several First Aiders on our current site, we have produced business cards with all the site first aiders contact telephone numbers on. This includes the site address and postcode for the emergency services to be informed if required. These business cards are issued to the site operatives at their site inductions.
Health through Technology
Attempting to engage the site workforce into good nutrition and fitness is not something that many believe can be achieved in the workplace, so we set out to dispute this fact. We had already had a nutritionist visit site to give valuable information to our operatives, and I took this another step further with the use of monitoring part of...
Three Construction Site Health and Safety Challenges and How to Tackle Them
There are many misconceptions about the construction industry, magnificent buildings are constructed but somehow it’s easy to forget the incredible amount of skill required – and the men who knowingly put themselves at risk every single day. HSE statistics show that construction workers are six times more likely to be killed at work than any other worker. The good news is...
Tackling Addiction
Caring for the wellbeing and safety of your employees is crucial in maintaining a happy, healthy workforce and industry image. The focus on health and safety is continuous and can always be enhanced on a construction site. However there are aspects of maintaining a healthy wellbeing that can’t always be noticeably seen and can easily go unnoticed, such as an addiction....
World Health Day
World Health Day is coordinated annually by the World Health Organisation (WHO). This day aims to raise awareness of health issues, with this year focusing on Depression. To support World Health Day on your site, you could do the following: Download materials and resources from the World Health Organisation’s website; Have posters about depression and mental health in welfare areas of the site, such as the...
Spotlight on… occupational cancers follow-up article
In September 2015, the Scheme’s campaign focused on the increasingly important issue of occupational cancers and examined what the industry was doing to safeguard employees within the industry. It was found that between 220 and 250 workers die each year as a result of an immediate injury, compared to the 15,000 – 18,000 who die from cancer. Despite this, the...
Know your Numbers! Blood Pressure Week
Know your Numbers! Blood Pressure Week is coordinated annually by Blood Pressure UK. This week is designed to encourage adults across the UK to know their blood pressure numbers and take the necessary action to reach and maintain a healthy blood pressure. To support Blood Pressure Week on your site, you could do the following: Encourage your workforce to find out their blood...
A pre-enrolment scheme for operatives
Site inductions should be kept up to date and contain all relevant safety risk information, so that everyone entering the site is fully aware. The induction process helps the workforce to understand their role, raise awareness of specific risks and it encourages their feedback and understanding. Below is an example of how a site used an enrolment induction process: A pre-enrolment scheme was introduced...
Using personal experiences to support the workforce with mental health issues
Mental health issues and concerns are just as important as physical health problems, but can be overlooked. It is vitally important that the workforce has sufficient support and advice, should they need it. Below is an example of how you could raise awareness and offer support relating to mental health: One member of the site team voluntarily put together a case study...
Mind offers mental health training, consultancy and coaching
It is important to promote mental wellbeing in your organisation, to encourage a positive, healthy and productive workplace culture. A number of sites have achieved this by putting employees forward to take part in Mind’s mental health training, consultancy and coaching. The main aims of this training include: Helping to reduce absenteeism in the workplace; Encouraging a positive, healthy and...
Health and Wellbeing Checks for the Workforce
Health surveillance and screening of the workforce should be in place. Providing help and support for workers will help to ensure happier, healthier employees. Examples of health and wellbeing assessments, which have been implemented on sites include: Medical assessments were performed by visiting or permanent doctors/ nurses; Implementation of a wellbeing programme, with an interactive Health Kiosk to test key indicators of health with a print...
Movember
Movember is the No.1 leading global organisation committed to changing the face of men’s health. The Movember Foundation challenges men to grow moustaches during November, to spark conversation and raise vital funds for its men’s health programs, specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health. To support Movember on your site, you could do the following: Encourage operatives on your site...
Men’s Health Week
Men’s Health Week is coordinated annually by the Men’s Health Forum. The week is focused on healthy living for all men, and the focus for 2019 will be the impact of inequality and deprivation on men’s health. To support Men’s Health Week on your site, you could do the following: Provide an on-site nurse or regular visits from a nurse to your...
Workers ‘In Case of Emergency’ (ICE) Stickers
To ensure that emergency’s can be dealt with quickly and effectively, operatives personal and medical information should be readily available. A simple sticker (or self-adhesive tab containing ICE information) can be easily fitted to the exterior of the workers hard hat. It securely stores critical and potentially lifesaving I.D information, which can be essential in the event of a serious...
