As part of our commitment to the occupational health, safety and wellbeing, all BES site based employees have just completed their annual health screening with accredited professionals. The occupational health assessment included hearing tests, skin checks, lung function testing and Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS) assessment.

On a construction site, there are many hazards which may present a risk to health. Therefore, it is important we monitor our employees through a health surveillance programme to provide early identification of any medical problems and undertake any corrective action required. The results also provide information necessary to effectively review our risk assessment processes and associated controls.

At BES, engagement with the staff is crucial and encouraged at all levels, especially regarding health and safety matters. This approach drives continual improvement where ideas and suggestions are celebrated and everyone can see that their input makes a difference. Our employees have been also encouraged to get involved in developing and participate in health surveillance programme.

Construction has been recognised as a high-risk industry for a long time and over recent years there have been big improvements in reducing the number and rate of injuries to site workers in UK. Unfortunately, what is less recognised is that construction is a high-risk industry for health issues too. The recent HSE statistics (‘Construction statistics in Great Britain, 2018’) indicate that construction workers have a high risk of developing diseases and that every year more working days are lost due to work-related illness compared to injuries.

Our workforce is our most important asset, and we believe that managing health risks should be no different to managing safety risks. We have been taking steps to help prevent work-related ill health and occupational injuries, ensure compliance with health and safety regulations and improve workplace safety, including minimising and eliminating hazards. Along with our comprehensive Safety Management System, we developed the occupational health policy and procedures, which outline our activities and responsibilities, including relevant training, health surveillance questionnaires and external health screenings.

We are committed to continuing to develop and improve our occupational health, safety and wellbeing strategy to protect our employees and those that work with us.