Health & Safety in the workplace

“During this period 53 construction workers were killed at work which involves a 26% decline on the 72 deaths recorded in 2007. Meanwhile, a total 28 people died last year as a result of rail work based activity in the UK, 1 more than in 2008. Construction remains the most dangerous industry in the UK. 

“This is, in essence, good news. But since people are still losing their lives in the workplace, it is not close to good enough.

“Bringing the accidents in the workplace down to zero is the biggest challenge yet by Health and Safety specialists and as such it involves an extensive strategy in place and commitment from all.

“At SkyBlue, we keep an average of 300 workers a week out in potential hazardous sites mainly within the construction, rail, utilities, highways and M&E sectors. Needless to say that constant vigilance is needed but this will not suffice if a well structured and clear H&S strategy is not in place.

“A clear strategy involves operational business planning processes with mechanisms to ensure all people within the organisation understand how they contribute to individual, team and organisational development.

“In practical terms, the core of the H&S strategy is to ‘start at the top’ with managers being consistent in their behaviors and offering good support when needed. This positively affects individuals and temporary workers throughout the business.

“At SkyBlue we first implemented a 24 hour line for SkyBlue people to report any kind of accidents and incidents on site or in the office environment, which is then followed up and investigated before closure.

“At the same time, health and safety training and Site Safety Tours are carried out periodically on every single site. Likewise, SkyBlue recruitment consultants are trained and then audited to ensure they are also up to speed on how to behave safely.

“It’s not until Health and Safety implementation is fit for purpose in the organisation and acted upon that the figures won’t shrink down to zero.”

SkyBlue has recently achieved the Safety Standard (18001) and the Environmental Standard (14001) accreditations in a recent audit by the SGS as well as renewing the Quality Standard (9001) Certificate. SkyBlue has been named 'Best Construction Recruitment Firm' in prestigious Recruiter Awards of Excellence 2009.