No compromises

“Experts warn recession may cause on-site danger” (www.building.co.uk, 6 January). The article makes a series of assumptions that are certainly not true of the approach our people and suppliers take.

In contrast to the “drastic reduction” in health and safety budgets and the increased responsibilities of site managers that you reported, we have not made any such cuts and responsibilities for health and safety remain clearly defined in job descriptions. We are working harder than ever to ensure that we have safe sites, strong teams and leaders who hold each other to account. In fact, more time, money and effort is being spent on safety this year than ever before to ensure we send every person home unharmed every day.

Your article also states that the “knock-on impact in site compliance and injury incidence must be expected”. This is not necessarily so. We do not take chances with people’s lives or livelihoods.

Right now, working safely is not about cuts in budgets or the state of the economy; it’s about driving up professionalism and standards of supervision, exerting care when planning work and being thoughtful in the management, leadership and motivation of our people.

Our message is unequivocal: if something cannot be done safely, don’t do it. Every incident is preventable; safety is our highest priority. We will continue working hard to stop every unsafe incident and injury on our sites, regardless of whether the economy is in recession or boom.

Nick Pollard, chief executive, Bovis Lend Lease