Wellbeing in the workplace has been given an early Christmas present thanks to a double donation.
FM Conway, Lead Contractor on the Rochester Bridge Refurbishment Project, agreed to donate one pound to the Lighthouse Club, The Construction Industry Charity, for every positive intervention to occur on the project. This money is then being match-funded by the Rochester Bridge Trust.
The charity is the only one to provide financial and emotional support to the construction community and their families.
Russell Cooper, Senior Warden at the Trust, explained: “Safety is of the utmost importance to the Trust, which is why we agreed FM Conway would donate one pound to charity for every positive intervention to take place during the refurbishment project, with the Trust agreeing to double the donation.”
A positive intervention – sometimes known as a ‘near miss’ – is an action taken to prevent injury from happening. For example clearing debris that could become a trip hazard, before any harm is done.
Matt Smith, Structures Director at FM Conway, added: “Positive interventions are our way of recognising the potential for risk and correcting it before any harm can occur. On the surface, recording these interventions is good for collecting money for a very worthy cause, but the reporting also has an important safety purpose on our site.
“The record of positive interventions helps us to build up a picture of where and when corrective activities have taken place, informing the team of any possible build-up of risk and identifying areas where additional training may be required. It’s a win-win situation for raising awareness of the importance of putting safety first.”
In total, 172 positive interventions were recorded since the start of the project in April 2019, until the end of November 2019. This means the total donation is £344, with future presentations due to take place throughout the project.
Martin Coyd OBE, an Ambassador for the Lighthouse Club, was presented with the cheques by Russell Cooper and Matt Smith.
Martin said: “The Lighthouse Club is grateful to the Rochester Bridge Trust and FM Conway for these donations.
“Statistics show there is much work to be done to improve the overall safety and wellbeing of our construction community, and so we are pleased to see this demonstration of commitment by these two organisations.”