Safety for project success

When it comes to safety, the job is never done. Andy Peters, AECOM’s global lead for health and safety introduces the firm’s Life-Preserving Principles and annual safety report .

Over the past 30 years, there has been a step change in the development of health and safety management systems across industries, placing an increased focus on creating the safe and secure work environments people deserve and need to thrive.

While much progress has been made in the world of infrastructure delivery and construction, it is still a high-risk industry. Injury and fatalities remain an everyday reality, and their prevention is the top priority.

Safety is an essential component and driver of success, not just for those delivering projects, but for clients and other stakeholders too. At AECOM we are constantly seeking new processes and approaches to improve on our existing high standards. To foster a foundation of excellence in everything we do, we developed nine Life-Preserving Principles to follow.

Nine Life-Preserving Principles

The nine principles were established to achieve the ultimate goal of zero employee injuries and illnesses while safeguarding all teams, communities, clients and environments during the creation and delivery of projects.

The nine Life-Preserving Principles are:

1. Demonstrated Management Commitment: executives, senior managers and project managers at AECOM lead the safety, health and environment (SH&E) improvement process by continuously demonstrating their commitment
2. Employee Participation: our people are actively engaged in our safety processes through committees, training, audits, observations and inspections
3. Pre-Planning: effective risk mitigation is deployed to design, plan and build safety into every project
4. Safety Orientation and Training: effective safety training is provided to identify and mitigate hazards in the workplace and prevent injuries to our staff and others
5. Budgeting and Staffing for Safety: a budget to support safety activities is included in project proposals
6. Contractor Management: integral to our collaborative culture, we work with sub-consultants, subcontractors, contractors and joint-venture partners to provide a safe work environment for employees and the public
7. Recognition and Rewards: employees are recognized for working safely and supporting our safety efforts
8. Incident Investigation: all recordable incidents and serious near misses are investigated to identify root causes and contributing factors to prevent reoccurrence.
9. Fit for Duty: employees are responsible for reporting to work fit for duty and not pose a health and safety hazard to themselves or others.

Achieving our goal: perfect project safety reviews

In the past year, three AECOM projects received a perfect project safety review (PSR) score for the first time in the organization’s history. The PSR process is a method we use to assess safety that includes interviews with management, conversations with employees and evaluation of the site.

The three projects which achieved perfect scores during FY17 are:

• Deephams Wastewater Treatment Works
  • Deephams is a £180million live refurbishment of the water treatment works for Thames Water. One of the largest water treatment plants in London, the safety challenges are significant because there is demolition and construction operations going on while the plant remains in operation.
  • At Deephams we are part of a joint venture with Murphy and Kier (AMK) for better capacity and environmental standards.
  • Drones are used to keep track of site development. You can view the YouTube footage here.

• Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP)
  • The Pueblo Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) safely destroys and disposes of more than 2,600 tons of mustard gas agent. AECOM is responsible for the systemization, pilot testing, operations and ultimate closure of the plant.

• Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Shawnee Clean Air Project
  • AECOM was responsible for the installation of equipment to remove sulfur dioxide emissions to make the plant more compliant with clean air regulations and also constructing and managing a dewatering facility.

For more about our safety innovations and commitment to our principles that led to these perfect scores, read the AECOM Annual Safety Report Nine Ways to Zero.