We delivered a Safety Health Awareness Day at Hattersley Trade Park, working in close collaboration with Maple Grove Developments and H+H to promote practical safety awareness and preparedness across our civil engineering and building teams.
The event focused on service strikes and groundworks, with a series of live demonstrations and practical sessions designed to share knowledge, showcase effective techniques, and strengthen response readiness across our site teams and supply chain. A clear message ran throughout the day that service strikes continue to have a significant impact on safety, programme, and cost across construction. This reinforced the importance of accurate service detection, careful planning, and the consistent application of safe excavation practices.
The day centred around several key topics to support learning and real world application. These included live scenario rescues, giving teams the opportunity to understand how to respond safely in high risk situations. There was a strong focus on the interface between plant and pedestrians, highlighting the importance of clear segregation between vehicles and operatives to reduce the risk of incidents on site.
We also explored the principles of safe digging and excavation, including what happens once a service is identified and how it can be safely exposed. Demonstrations included the use of vacuum excavation and safe digging techniques within five hundred millimetres of known services. Teams were introduced to the latest innovations in service detection equipment, alongside practical discussions around identifying and managing underground utilities to prevent service strikes.
Temporary works below ground also formed a key part of the programme, with sessions focused on best practice and common sense approaches for everyday groundworks activities. This provided valuable insight into the importance of planning, simple design considerations, and maintaining stability in excavation works across civil engineering projects.
By creating an open and collaborative environment, we encouraged shared learning between our teams, partners, and specialists. As a family business, we take responsibility for creating a culture that prioritises safety, communication, and continuous improvement across all of our civils, steel, and building operations.
The Safety Health Awareness Day formed part of the wider Hattersley Trade Park development, where we are delivering eight new commercial units alongside a Costa Coffee drive through and a new Aldi store. The scheme also includes a sixteen vehicle electric vehicle charging hub, one hundred and seventy nine parking spaces, and extensive landscaping across a five acre site.
Sustainability remains a key focus across the development, which is targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating. Key features include photovoltaic panels and a sustainable drainage system, designed to support biodiversity and enhance the environmental performance of the site.
By aligning targeted safety initiatives with live project delivery, we continue to embed a proactive and responsible culture across our civil engineering, steel, and building teams. This approach drives consistent standards, strengthens our supply chain, and ensures the safe and reliable delivery of every project for our clients and partners.