Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK has hit a milestone by reaching 500,000 hours without recording a single lost time incident (LTI) at the 220MW North Kyle wind farm in Scotland.
The company is the principal contractor on Brockwell Energy’s £300m scheme near Dalmellington, which will feature 49 Vestas turbines.
An LTI is an injury sustained by an employee that leads to a loss of productive work time, meaning they are unable to perform regular duties.
With up to 250 people on site at any one time, Jones Bros has used its “Together Safer” culture to ensure a positive and proactive approach to health and safety by all personnel and contractors.
The initiative encourages the workforce to openly challenge any person who has performed, or may be about to carry out, an unsafe act or procedure, with the collective coming together to find solutions to tackle poor behaviours and choices.
This has been reinforced in conjunction with Brockwell, which has actively encouraged positive intervention and Incident Prevention Card (IPC) reporting through joint incentive schemes.
Jones Bros project manager Jonathan Maitland said: “I’d like to congratulate everyone that has worked on the site for contributing to this by following our guidelines and joining with us to promote this safety culture to make sure everyone gets home safe and well to their loved ones.
“To have reached around 2,000 IPCs shows just how important the wellbeing of others is to the entire team, whether that be employees of Jones Bros, Brockwell Energy, or subcontractors.
“It’s also crucial to express gratitude to Jones Bros and Brockwell Energy’s health and safety teams for their continued support, without which this achievement would have been much more difficult.”
Jones Bros celebrated completing 500 days and 500,000 hours without an LTI with a BBQ on site, which follows on from other rewards for hitting key milestones.
Richard Buckland, Brockwell Energy’s project manager, said: “It’s a significant milestone to achieve, and I would like to thank everyone involved on site for their diligence to health and safety.
“Since the beginning of the project, they have all worked incredibly hard to deliver the construction of North Kyle Wind Farm safely and efficiently.
“The site environment has presented a real challenge given its natural state and historic use.
“Couple that with a tight construction programme and this achievement is proof that having a safety initiative with collaboration from everyone can be achieved.”
Jones Bros has completed the final concrete pour for the turbine foundations in under 12 months, despite a challenging year weather-wise.