HBG's safety record wins Asda approval

HBG's promise that the health and safety of its workforce is its top priority has helped the contractor to reduce accidents by 30% in the past 12 months.

And its efforts have not gone unnoticed as three of the projects it worked on for Asda were nominated in the Best Site Safety category at the supermarket giant's second annual Brick Awards in Leeds last week.

HBG worked on 21 projects for the food retailer last year ranging in value from £500,000 to £15m.

With the total project value providing HBG with approximately £60m-worth of turnover during the past 12 months, and with a similar volume allocated in 2003, the contractor is confident it can keep ahead of rivals Pearce Retail and Laing, which are also on Asda's books.

HBG managing director Martin Rogers, who is also responsible for health and safety, told CJ: "We have a national forum of senior managers that acts as the focal point in the sharing of knowledge and experience on all Asda projects.

"This ensures there is a high level of consistency with regard to health and safety and all other aspects of project performance," he said.

Rogers added that the most important aspect to achieving good health and safety performance is continual communication between all parties working on the project.

"It doesn't matter whether it's the project's workforce, Asda's staff, or the customers visiting the store, all are of equal importance to HBG's project management," he said.

The three HBG-built stores nominated for Best Site Safety were in Livingston, Beckton and Bishop Auckland, which won the trophy.

The Livingston site was victorious in the Best Contractor Team category ahead of yet another HBG entry and submissions from Morris & Spottiswoode and Pearce Retail.

HBG's impressive performance will be welcomed by the Health & Safety Executive, which last week revealed that the construction industry killed 50 fewer people last year than in 2000 (CJ 2 April).