Keeping people safe

Safety for all remains top of our agenda: that people should be safe at work is our first concern. Our goal is to be 100% injury free.

 In 2010, 92% of our sites achieved 100% injury free working. We were very encouraged by the high levels of engagement in our ‘near miss reporting’ approach to site safety, with approximately half of all submissions being made by our supply chain partners. The positive engagement of our supply chain in safety is of real value to Wates and provides a solid basis on which to improve our performance.

Our strategy is to improve safety through action-based, engagement driven processes at every level. During the year we introduced further initiatives to drive delivery of our safety goal. One innovation was the introduction of internal ‘service level agreements’ between the health and safety managers and project management teams which clearly define expectations for both parties and enable clearer accountability for health and safety practice and performance.

In 2011, our highest priority is to deliver safer working for all, embedding existing good practice and investing further in programmes and processes that will encourage and promote safe working on every site with particular emphasis on operative engagement.