As CIF Safety Week 2022 draws to a close we would like to send out a big thanks to all our staff for their fantastic participation, with a special mention to our dedicated Environmental, Health & Safety Team for co-ordinating training and Toolbox Talks across our sites.

At Jones Engineering, we are proud to support the CIF annual Construction Safety Week once again! Promoting positive health, safety, and wellbeing in construction, celebrating best practice, and eliminating accidents at work is what drives the continual improvements in health and safety performance.

Group EHS Manager Declan Grady expressed, “CIF Construction Safety Week provides us with an ideal opportunity to re-affirm our commitment to exceed safety standards and not just satisfy them. It is also a time where the construction industry can work together to share experiences and best practices.”

The CIF topics of Safe Access & Egress, Working at Height, Control of Hazardous Energies, Safety by Example and Safe Use of Mobile Equipment were demonstrated in themed toolbox talks and events on our sites throughout Ireland and abroad over the course of the week. Motivational speakers visited our sites and told their stories about accidents at work and the impact they have had on their lives. The aim of these discussions was to raise awareness for work-related injuries and to ensure that workers take the steps to avoid, prevent and reduce risks. Group EHS Manager Declan Grady emphasized the importance of having “adequate safety procedures, appropriate planning, and sufficient design criteria in place to allow for safe and easy access to and from the construction site and for the safe delivery and offloading of plant and equipment.” At Jones Engineering, we take our team’s safety very seriously and schedule regular events across our sites to educate and promote safe work practices. Just last month, we hosted our Safety Seminar in Dublin which saw over 200 people participate over a two-day period, with plans to host another seminar in Cork in the coming weeks.

Historically, health and safety in construction prioritised the more obvious physical hazards and their impact on site safety. However, attitudes have now changed, with the need for awareness on prevalent mental health issues prioritised as they are equally dangerous and potentially fatal. We have been a proud company supporter of the Lighthouse charity for a number of years and are a huge advocate of their ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ campaign which aims to raise awareness of poor mental health within our industry. At Jones, we are committed to improving the lives of those who work with us, creating a healthy working environment where dignity and respect are key values, and we value every voice and take time to listen. ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat’ provides a huge range of pro-active support and resources for the construction community including a 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline, a free app and mental health training. We want to encourage people to reach out and avail of these supportive resources if they need help.

Our goal is that every employee understands the reasoning behind safety procedures and takes ownership of their role in ensuring they and their co-workers go home safely every day. Safety has always been our number one value. Priorities can change but values do not.