Health and safety
- Published: 09 October 2008 09:00
- Last Updated: 09 October 2008 11:30
- Reader Responses
Nominated by Andrew Wolstenholme.
Have you ever moved a friend or colleague's glass away from the edge of the table?
If you find yourself doing this all the time, you are probably a parent who has spent years trying to prevent 'accidents waiting to happen' in your own home.
For me, this perfectly illustrates the change in mindset that has had the greatest impact on our industry in recent times. It is now no longer acceptable to see accidents as 'inevitable' in a dangerous industry.
Every accident is preventable, if every one of us takes personal responsibility for our own safety and of those around us.
On T5, our message to workers went far beyond telling them to wear hard hats. Instead, through a long campaign of employee engagement, we empowered workers to see it as their personal responsibility to move the brick before it falls from the scaffolding. This, I'm pleased to say, is happening on construction sites across the country.
If saving lives is not enough, the powerful business argument for it has also now been realised - demonstrating to your employees how genuinely you care for their welfare opens the door to a conversation about quality, the importance of meeting programme and even cost targets.
Andrew Wolstenholme is BAA's capital projects director and was responsible for building Heathrow's Terminal 5. He has been with BAA for over ten years and previously worked for consultant Arup, managing major infrastructure and building projects.
