Winner: AR Demolition
AR Demolition wowed the judges with its commitment to improving health and safety standards both within and outside of the company.
Led by managing director Richard Dolman, AR aims to integrate health and safety into all aspects of its business under their company slogan Safe for All, improving the safety of employees and raising the standard of plant and equipment.
The judges said ARs passion and enthusiasm is infectious and the group is constantly looking for new ways to innovate and engage with its workforce.
AR demonstrated a commitment to improving health and safety procedures and is planning to roll out further initiatives. Among these, new incident reporting guides will be displayed on site noticeboards, granting easy access to information on what to do in the event of an incident.
AR made its two biggest investments to date in health and safety during 2015/16, appointing Michael Henderson as head of H&S and creating a plant apprenticeship scheme covering extensive health and safety training.
Inward investment is a key focus for AR, with more than 360,000 spent on training and more than 2minvested in state-of-the-art plant and equipment.
AR Demolition is constantly looking for new ways to innovate and engage with its workforce
Judges comment
The judges were impressed by ARs quick response and eagerness to learn from potential hazardous events, such as an incident on site while AR were carrying out the demolition of a Hanson quarry site.
The incident saw a fire extinguisher that was hidden among waste on site struck inadvertently hit while demolition works were being carried out. The fire extinguisher exploded and travelled 150 m across site, nearly hitting the nearby quarry offices.Although no-one was hurt, an investigation was launched and a panel set up to learn from the incident.
AR has made changes to site procedures and introduced measures to avoid a similar situation arising.
On site, every worker has the companys health and safety ethosSafe for All printed on their hard hat. A personal message for returning back safely to families on a night time is written underneath, making each hat unique to each worker.
As part of the firms health and safety training, AR has also signed up to Proud2b safe, designed to encourage employees to speak up when in an unsafe situation.
With employee welfare in mind, free Bupa healthcare is offered to employees and a healthy eating programme has been rolled out to encourage workers to adopt a balanced diet.
In addition, outside of AR, Mr Dolman has set up the Demolition Safety Association forum, an online platform where contractors can share their health and safety lessons learnt and establish best practice for the whole of the industry.
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Health and Safety Excellence: Winner - Construction News
