‘Always Safety First’ 

Always Safety First is not just a strap line on our site notices and posters, but a definitive statement of the importance that we at Fitzgerald Contractors place on safety. Our proactive approach to health and safety is driving a culture that has ensured zero reportable accidents and incidents since 2014. During this time, we have worked for more than 4,662,984 hours. This is a record that we are extremely proud of and that has been recognised through the achievement of a number of awards, including a Distinction in the 2024 International Safety Awards (our 25^th).  

We want, need, and empower all our staff and workforce to be involved in preventing potential safety issues, and identifying how we can improve how we do things. Positive Interventions (PIs), which are simple notes of problems spotted on our sites by operatives, subcontractors, clients, and our staff, are a key element of this. PIs are recorded on notes or verbally to site Project Managers. Site PI WhatsApp groups also encourage input and enable photographic evidence to be shared with our workforce and management. 

Every PI notification is important and valued. All PIs are analysed and fed into the Dashboard we publish every two months showing trends, hot topics and improvements introduced as a direct result of the PIs raised. These Dashboards inform the development of Safety Alerts and Safety Briefings that are delivered on site. Our PI Dashboards and outcomes are also shared with clients, allowing learning to be disseminated across their projects and organisation.

The picture shown is a great example of a PI raised on our Coventry Road site, and the solution we put into practice. To avoid workers entering the site working area at any point through the Chapter 8 barriers, we’ve introduced special green barriers to define the planned safe access point to be used. These are clearly different to our standard purple barriers, but don’t affect the integrity of the site barrier boundary. The last month saw 18 PI notes submitted. The running total for the last 12 months is 349, showing the great input we’re getting from everyone on our sites, and the constant progress we are making with behavioural safety.

Managing Director, Nick Coley, said: “I am extremely proud of our health and safety record, but we couldn’t do this without our workforce, subcontractors, employees and clients. The PIs raised are playing an influential role in identifying improvements that create an environment where our workforce can enjoy working healthily and safely. They have helped avoid potential incidents, including slips, trips and falls, vehicle incidents, security breaches and environmental incidents. Thank you to all our operatives, subcontractors, clients, and staff, and keep up the great work! It’s hugely appreciated“.