Working well together small team award

Winner

Kinetic Electrical

In 2005 Kinetic realised it had a problem. Everyone at the company knew about the regulations covering electrical work but the practicalities on site meant that many ended up cutting corners to get the job done. In cases where the power could not be isolated or old equipment had to be worked on electricians were exposing themselves to the risk of electric shocks. Rather than impose even more strict rules from the top, the company consulted its staff and came up with practical guidelines. Now all operatives have an A5 safety booklet with them onsite, testing tools for final safety checks and they all know that the distribution board products they work on have insulated bar systems that reduce the risks when working on them live.

Runners-up

Collins Contractors

Collins didn't just want to introduce a ready-made health and safety policy, it wanted a bespoke plan that reflected its own needs and had the backing of its entire staff. The first step was to write up a company handbook, which every employee had a say in. This has improved relations between workers and managers and ensured its accident rate has remained below the industry standard. It also decided to dispense with external toolkit talks and produced 19 of its own. A training matrix monitors every worker's training and attendance of toolkit talks and a three-month review is carried out to ensure each one is receiving the appropriate skills training. All of this effort, plus a bespoke safety plan that is revised annually, explains how Collins has gained a safety award from the British Safety Council for the past four years.

M&C Jones Building Contractors

It may be small, but this growing company has a true commitment to providing its customers with a professional service and it knows that developing its staff is a sure fire way to do just that. So it put in place formal systems and processes to ensure work was carried out safely. First off it recruited an administrator to ensure the company kept up to date with health and safety law. It also introduced regular health and safety meetings, issued all staff with a PPE bag full of protective gear and has a policy of selecting subcontractors who have a similarly responsible attitude to safety on site. Its efforts were rewarded in 2005 when it achieved Investor in People status, a sure sign that team morale must be very high.

Northern Cladding

All of Northern Cladding's work involves using cranes - and while some crane lifts are straightforward most require a great deal of expertise and planning to avoid accidents. In recent years the work has become even more challenging as the design of cladding material changes and the length and girth of it increases. All of which explains why this company decided to send employees on the Construction Plant Competence Scheme, a four-day intensive course on all aspects of crane lifting. Now seven out of 11 management staff can plan and conduct complicated crane lifts. As a result communication between head office and site has improved dramatically and risks can be identified sooner.