Safety remains our Number One priority but in West Europe Materials there has been a bad run of accidents recently. To address this, the Materials UK Management team are significantly increasing their VFLs for March, April and May to increase our visibility within the business and to focus on safety in the workplace and with our drivers.

Over the next few weeks we will be sharing details of the VFLs. This week we are featuring three VFLs by Kevin Cage, Head of Aggregate Operations UK. These took place at the Dry Silo Mortar (DSM) used on customer sites are repaired, the DMS plant itself and the DSM Via Nova Shotcrete plant.

Roger Taylor, Operations Manager, has built a new team over 12 months, from people with varied backgrounds outside the construction industry, and during the VFL, all were found to have excellent engagement and positive attitudes to Health & Safety. A great achievement – well done Roger and team!

At Via Nova, Kevin had discussions with the team about isolation processes and colour coding of locks and isolation cards, also gas safety, pedestrian routes and the new Duo installation. Guarding, isolation and housekeeping checks were made, and all found to be maintained to high standard.

At the Dry Silo Mortar plant, discussions were had around how Checkproof could help align their priority repairs, correct PPE and process were used at all times, and when a new driver arrived on site, was given a PPE briefing before starting work.

At the DSM refurb shed, discussions took place around the use of scissor lifts and training. The team positively fed back on the excellent Health & Safety Academy three course.  Housekeeping standards and team Health & Safety ethics were found to be high. Kevin noted: “It was good to see a new team established from such varied backgrounds which has come together so fast with everyone’s Health and Safety at the core of their actions.”