Member Article

Achilles Gives Castle The Edge

Creating a health and safety first ethos has steered one of the region’s leading building services contractors to gaining a globally recognised accreditation and created a new position within the organisation.

Following an intensive two day audit, Hebburn based, Castle Building Services (Castle), was recently awarded Achilles BuildingConfidence Level 5 accreditation.

Originally launched in 2007 in collaboration with contractor Lend Lease, Achilles BuildingConfidence is an online registration and accreditation standard used by 17 buyer organisations and over 1,500 suppliers in the UK construction sector.

Castle passed the rigorous process to gain Level 5 on the first attempt, which is unusual and clearly demonstrates the contractor’s exacting standards of health and safety related matters already in place.

Holders of the accreditation like Castle Building Services, stand apart from others in their sector as companies which not only have a competitive edge on their peers, but it also sends the signal that they operate with integrity on every project undertaken irrespective of size or value.

In addition to taking an innovative approach to the delivery of building services installation for Castle, health and safety is a key driver for the business.

Speaking about securing this latest accreditation and its exemplary track record when it comes to health and safety, Castle’s compliance manager, Bill Ramage said:

“We are delighted to have passed such a rigorous process to gain this Level 5 accreditation, particularly at our first attempt . At Castle we invest a significant amount of time and money to ensure a safe working environment, not only for our own operatives but sub contractors and those of our project partners on site.

“This ethos is driven from the top of our organisation with regular discussions with our employees where at least one board director is involved. By listening to the guys on site we are able to respond speedily and if necessary, adapt procedures and equipment. Further to this, our use of pre-fabrication limits the possibilities of accidents. This approach is welcomed by the contractors who appoint us at it supports their own aims of reducing the number of accidents on construction sites.”

To support Castle’s ongoing health and safety practices and continued high performance in that area of the business Mandy Blair, has joined the team in the role of compliance assistant to provide administrative support.

According to the Health and Safety Executive there have been significant reductions in the number and rate of injury over the last 20 years or more. Nevertheless, construction remains a high risk industry. Although it accounts for only about 5% of the employees in Britain it accounts for 27% of fatal injuries to employees and 10% of reported major injuries.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Leigh Chelton .