Health and Safety Improvement
The collation and analysis of health and safety performance statistics and lessons learned (internal and external) for development of initiatives to support a culture that will continuously improve health, safety and wellbeing performance.
Health and Safety Improvement Resources
Resources include papers, videos, research summaries and good practice documents produced by authors from across the HS2 Family to capture learning, good practice and innovation from the HS2 programme
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Managing leavers to mitigate the impact to project delivery
After the peak of works, many Costain Skanska joint venture (CSJV) team members were offered roles with follow-on High Speed 2 (HS2) contracts which delivered on career progression and job security. The knowledge and experience gained on the Enabling Works Contract (EWC) made these individuals highly sought after. The impact on CSJV resulted in prematurely…
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Female Advocates in Rail (FAIR) Network
Establishing employee networks provides a safe, supportive space for women and other minority groups on a construction project. This paper details how site-specific equality, diversity and inclusion support can be set up and supported by contractors, focusing on the joint venture context.
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PowerBI and its use in performance management reporting
Monthly reporting utilising Excel dashboards proved to be time consuming, require numerous efforts to provide consistent presentation and was not readily providing the detailed information required to enable prompt effective decisions to be taken by the relevant management teams. With the switch to PowerBI, significant benefits were achieved in terms of time savings, consistent presentation,…
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School Engagement – Noise risks
Health and safety was a key part of educational engagement programmes on the High Speed Two (HS2) Enabling Works Contract central section. One effective initiative was a focus on noise safety and hearing health awareness within the school engagement offering. This included: joining forces with a hearing conservation charity; running a workshop for 180 students…
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Engineering for archaeology during major infrastructure programmes
Archaeological activities are often the first piece of work carried out under the auspices of a Principal Contractor. However, they are not always afforded the same scrutiny when it comes to risk reduction and innovation. This short paper seeks to address this by identifying ways in which archaeological works can set the tone for safety…
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Managing Occupational Health risks in archaeology
Archaeology is traditionally a challenging, hands on and physical job with the potential to present a number of occupational health challenges. By strategically examining activities and work streams it has been possible to introduce new tools and techniques to reduce harm and improve productivity in both fieldwork and laboratory environments. Provision of small electric plant,…
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Quantifying risk hours to assess safe working systems
An approach to quantifying risk savings made in the risk review process has helped demonstrate safer methods working on the High Speed Two (HS2) Enabling Works Contract South. By quantifying the hours of persons who were undertaking high risk activities, it could be seen if alternative methods of working were safer. This approach fundamentally changed…
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Health & safety improvement: safety culture management
This paper gives an overview of the learning that Costain Skanska joint venture (CSjv) has embedded through the deployment of a safety culture measurement tool over a period of three years on the High Speed Two (HS2) - Enabling Works Contract (EWC) South programme of works. As a result of the implementation, CSjv have recorded…
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Improving dynamic risk assessments through digital application
Dynamic Risk Assessments (DRA) undertaken on site have traditionally used paper forms. Paper forms can be difficult to complete or become damaged in poor weather conditions, get mislaid and often result in time lags in wider information sharing. The High Speed Two (HS2) Phase 2a team created a digital version of the DRA form. Using…
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Building and sustaining a health and safety brand that connects everyone to being Safe at heart
‘Safe at heart’ is HS2’s pan-project health and safety brand and philosophy. After five years, it was failing to resonate with employees and supply chain and connect hearts and minds to the mission of making HS2 the UK’s safest ever mega project. A comprehensive review highlighted the need to clarify health and safety accountabilities, simplify…
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Managing properties, managing risks – good practice
Throughout the lifecycle of the project, HS2 Ltd will be landlord to a large property portfolio, which is managed and maintained by a specialist property management supplier. A suite of health, safety and environmental standards expected from HS2’s property management supplier was defined following an industry benchmarking exercise. This clear expectation has resulted in improved…
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Innovative approach to CDM coordination
With High Speed Two (HS2) construction works and all the associated enabling and utility works requiring many organisations to coordinate their work activity teams at hundreds of locations, the HS2 project gave the perfect opportunity to improve collaboration and planning of works with a web based Geographic Information Systems (GIS) linked to a work activity…
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Love for Life: Preconstruction Injury Free Environment
During the early stages of the southern section of the main works contract for High Speed Two (HS2) Phase one, the contractor team recognised the importance of applying behavioural principles to design and other preconstruction functions, such as procurement, planning and commercial. The project adapted the contractor’s successful construction-based Love for Life behavioural programme, in…
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Eliminating harm using exclusion zone technology
The failure of exclusion zones is one of the construction industry’s biggest risks leading to injury of personnel. This paper details the efforts to reduce harm and improve safety during a floor-by-floor demolition to prevent demolition materials being dropped into areas where there was a potential for a workforce interface. Passive Infrared (PIR) technology was…
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Oak Processionary Moth – a health risk to working in wooded areas
As part of the Enabling Works Contract’s ecological surveys of trees, an Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) nest was found in a tree in the Colne Valley. OPM can cause various health related issues such as skin and eye irritations as well as, in some cases, breathing difficulties and can penetrate through normal PPE. In consultation…
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Raising standard of lifting operations across smaller contractors
Summary In order to raise the standard of lifting operational practices and awareness of lifting plans by smaller contractors on the central section Enabling Works Contract, an all-encompassing lifting pack was produced with a pictorial guide showcasing each plant with lift plan and requirements. This pack advised SME’s and sub-contractors what information is required in…
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Delivering the Safe at heart transformation plan for the Stations Team
Safe at heart represents HS2’s health, safety and wellbeing brand, philosophy and strategic framework for delivering the goal: to create a railway designed, built and operated to the highest health, safety and security standards. Following a refresh of the branding in early 2020 the ‘I care, You count, We matter’ strapline was launched at the…
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Health risk assessment programme
A systematic Health Risk Assessment (HRA) process led to improved health risk management on the central section Enabling Works Contract. A template was created which enabled health risks for works packages to be predicted and then feedback obtained from each and every sub-contractor on a works package to accept or reject that the risks applied…
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Embedding Health, Safety, Security and Environmental Management (HSSE) into land and property pre-possession planning
Compulsory acquisition of land and property raises Health, Safety, Security and Environmental (HSSE) challenges. The usual due diligence that would occur in an open market transaction does not typically occur. This means HSSE issues may not be known before taking possession. To provide earlier insight of HSSE risks, the land acquisition process embedded HSSE information…
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Reducing impact to local residents during foundations removal
The Regent’s Park Estate demolitions were located on the approach to Euston Station, in a particularly sensitive residential area, placing the works under very high scrutiny from the client, public and local authority. This paper details the foundations removal and efforts to reduce the noise and vibration impact on residents. A combination of a drill…
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Reducing the risk of falls from height through design and selection of demolition methodologies
Falls from height are a key risk for traditional top-down demolition activities. The Enabling Works Contract on the southern section of High Speed Two (HS2) includes the demolition of 82 varying types of buildings and 2 gantry cranes. Hence the Enabling Works Contractor explored alternative methods of demolition that could reduce fall from height risk…
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VR 360 changing HSEQ training delivery and perceptions
Within the construction industry, everyone is having regular inductions, RAMS briefings, safety step ups, Toolbox Talks etc. It is evident that before they even attend these sessions, for many there is negativity and a feeling of “heard it all before”. Buckingham Group Contracting Ltd (BGCL) researched both the workforce and supply chain to understand these…
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Training supervisors for excellence now and the future
Frontline supervisors (FLS) play a critical role in safely supervising and coordinating activities on site. A shortage of FLSs within the construction industry was identified and those that were available generally did not have the required set of competencies for the more complex role required for the High Speed Two (HS2) enabling works, The Enabling…
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An alternative approach to demolition screens at Regent’s Park Estate
Regent’s Park Estate is situated within a densely populated area in the heart of Central London, bounded by a Transport for London red route to the East and Network Rail approaches into London Euston to the North East and residential properties and roads everywhere else. Traditional methods of demolition within this environment would normally have…
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Project specific display screen equipment assessment including remote working
It is standard practice for employees to complete a common Display Screen Equipment (DSE) assessment. In a joint venture situation there are different parent company policies and practices which can make the process to access support difficult and complicated, resulting in varying levels of take-up and support. Furthermore existing approaches to DSE assessments often do…
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Innovative use of drone technology for Enabling Works surveys
Engineering surveys for the Area South enabling works on High Speed Two (HS2) were required to capture 3D data of sites for use in design and as-built surveys. There are inherent safety risks in traditional survey approaches such as working as height, works in confined spaces and hazardous environments. The latest engineering survey technology was…
