UK contractor Laing O’Rourke has won a prestigious Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) award for its work at Manchester Airport.
Laing O’Rourke Manchester Airport Transformation project’s health, safety and environment team was named Team of the Year by RoSPA for a health and safety initiative that led to an operative’s life being saved.
Andrew Swindells, Laing O’Rouke health, safety and environment manager, said, “It’s a great achievement for the team. The Manchester Airport Transformation project is one of the biggest in the country with an average of £1m (US$1.3m) worth of construction happening every day.
“During 2018, the team focused on creating a strategy based on one of its core principles – ‘Safety is the Presence of Positives’ – placing a priority on being proactive in seeking out opportunities to add resilience to existing processes.
“They introduced a number of initiatives that have gone a long way to underpinning the positive standards on-site. One of these initiatives led to the life of an operative being saved following a cardiac arrest, with the introduction of both CPR training and multiple project defibrillators signposted in the main work areas.”
The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organizations around the world, recognizes achievement in health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement. The Team of the Year Award is part of the new Inspiration Awards category, which recognizes individuals, teams and projects that are a source of inspiration and pride.
Julia Small, RoSPA’s head of qualifications, awards and events, said, “It’s a huge achievement to be named Team of the Year, and judges were impressed with the standards that have been set for the Manchester Airport project.”