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At 1 Finsbury Avenue, part of the 10 year re-development framework for Broadgate, we invited students from the University of East London to prepare a competition design for our site welfare facility. From the competition, five students were chosen and given a paid placement to develop a welfare proposal for the project which encompassed wellbeing and sustainability. Part of the…

The site team needed to construct a large basement on a confined site with difficult ground conditions that comprised a high water table and heavy clay. This required a barrier to be created through a temporary sheet piled cofferdam perimeter. A common problem caused by this is that the soil is retained in the sheet pile which creates the risk…

An £85 million redevelopment of the Arndale Shopping Centre in Eastbourne included an additional 22 retail units, seven restaurant units, a multiscreen cinema and a significant extension to the multi-storey car park. A two-storey extension to the existing multi-storey car park was planned as part of the redevelopment. The existing concrete columns of the car park had to be strengthened…

Our site, Wyndham Park in Grantham, is a locally renowned green area for local residents. Due to the earth works we were introducing plant and machinery to the area, so as a considerate constructor we wanted to monitor and reduce the impact these machines would have on the ecosystem. To help site combat air pollution, Robert Woodhead Ltd ordered a…

New recruits to small construction companies often have limited formal training and little experience working with principal contractors. Considerate companies will be aware of this and put measures in place to support and educate new employees. See the examples below for how one company achieved this: The company recognised that some new recruits had little formal training in the industry…

As part of the site’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and disruption to its neighbours following the hand over of phases that bordered current working areas, the site team began to investigate what could be done to reduce the site’s impact on the environment. An area identified was the use of plant on site. Alternatives for the traditional plant…

Japanese Knotweed was known to be an issue in the field where the south car park is being constructed for a number of years prior to the commencement of the project. Chemical treatment of the knotweed was intermittently undertaken over several years with a treatment bund created in the north east corner of the site and knotweed contaminated material moved…

Continuous improvement is key to a robust health and safety policy. Incentives can be a useful way of encouraging employees to improve their behaviours. See the examples below for how one site addressed this: The company has rolled out a Professional Driver Recognition Scheme, with three levels of accreditation linked directly to drivers’ bonus pay. Targets are set for each…

Site welfare facilities should be adequate and well-equipped for all site personnel. With the lack of females working in construction, efforts should be made to redress this imbalance by ensuring sites and welfare facilities are inclusive. See the examples below for how one company achieved this: Sanitary products are provided free of charge in all female toilets on site. This…

Occupational health is beginning to be considered as important as on-site safety. Companies should have comprehensive policies in place to ensure occupational health and wellbeing. See the examples below for one company’s innovative approach: The company had an occupational health programme which was not receiving sufficient traction within the business. In response, they developed an integrated strategy to assist their…

Manual labour puts a significant strain on your body and not using correct techniques leaves individuals at risk of significant injury. See the examples below for how one company addressed this topic among the workforce: As a subcontractor, the company organised an event to help improve people’s understanding of issues around lifting heavy weights. The company appointed a female Team…

Rigorous and regular inspection is essential to maintaining safety systems on site. Traditionally sites have used paper-based systems like scafftags to track scaffold inspections, but more efficient electronic alternatives are increasingly being sought. See the examples below for how one company achieved this: The scaffolding company now uses ‘Safetime’, which is an electronic version of scafftags. ‘Safetime’ has a countdown…

Social Value refers to the wider financial and non-financial impacts of programmes, organisations and interventions, including the wellbeing of individuals and communities, social capital and the environment. As a result of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, the public sector must consider how the organisations that will potentially be commissioned to deliver required services will engage with the community…

Reusing materials and minimising waste is a key way of mitigating the environmental impact of works. See the examples below for how one site achieved this: A trade contractor used an open cell sponge  and abrasive media as a shot blasting material rather than sand. At a very high pressure this was more effective than traditional methods. Once the sponge…

Background The development of the M6 J16-19 Smart Motorway Project required mitigation measures to protect Great Crested Newts. This included large areas of vegetation management under supervision of an ecologist plus the installation of 7km of newt fencing and trapping under licence from Natural England. Original Method The conventional methodology for newt trapping involved the installation of pitfall traps. These…