by Sarah Topping | Sep 8, 2022 | News, SHEA
We recently collaborated with Kenny Waste Management Social Enterprise Ltd on a pilot programme to understand more about what materials are wasted on construction sites and identify opportunities to meet environmental targets. Kenny Waste Management Social Enterprise sponsored two Salford University postgraduate students to work on three Kier Construction sites to analyse waste for four weeks. To celebrate Zero Waste Week, we are sharing the story of their success. This story highlights the power of cross-sector collaboration in construction and waste management to increase the productivity of resources, improve site behaviour, and add more circularity to the UK economy. Kenny Waste is a social enterprise guided by Inclusion, Trust, and Growth (their three core values), they are always keen to take on new opportunities to collaborate with our customers and other partner organisations. This programme, managed by Hannah Aston, Environmental Manager at Kier Construction North & Scotland, sought to replicate impactful work done in Scotland in 2021. Combining academic knowledge and industry wisdom is always an exciting prospect, especially between these essential sectors on a project like this one. Kenny Waste Management currently diverts more than 99% of waste from landfill, so they were eager to offer expertise to these promising interns through their time at Kier. Students with Chris Gregory at North Chadderton SchoolStudents with Gary Simister at Lisburne SEND School We spoke to Oyinkansola and Louise, our internship programme participants, to learn about how they found it. Both were enthusiastic, showed commitment, and proved that asking lots of questions is the key to success. What an experience this internship has been. I have learned, networked, grown, and...
by Sarah Topping | Aug 11, 2022 | News, SHEA
Kate Hiller joined the North & Scotland Environment Team for a week’s work placement in July. Kate is currently studying at Runshaw College and would like to go on to study for an environmental-based degree at University. During her week with the team, Kate sat in on an environmental induction to understand the impacts the business has to manage. Following that, Kate visited Darley Street Markets to see how we actually manage the issues on site and sat in with a meeting with the supply chain, educating them on the forthcoming Clean Air Zone in Bradford. Kate also helped log some recycled aggregate deliveries to help prove compliance with their U1 exemption. Linking into improving air quality, Kate helped draft two green transport plans for the Nottingham and Aberdeen offices, which shows how to get to these offices via public transport, where EV charging points are available etc. This helped fulfill the suite of green transport plans available for each of the offices. Kate said “I particularly enjoyed the environmental induction as it informed me of how the environmental sustainability team helps to minimise impacts that their projects have on the environment. This is something that interests me in a future job. This placement has inspired me to continue to pursue a future career where I work alongside the environment and help to preserve...
by Sarah Topping | Aug 10, 2022 | News
Recently our site team on the Manchester Aquatics project had five Year 10 students from a local secondary school on site for 5 days work experience. The week was planned so that it would be meaningful for the young people yet still allow the busy site to operate as normal so that the site team’s day-to-day operations were not affected. In all, they had a meaningful encounter with up to 15 different construction professionals and at the end of each session the students carried out a task linked to that person’s job. The students arrived for their week with no aspirations of getting into a career in construction. When the students arrived on day one, the first task they were asked to do was to write down their thoughts of what they thought about construction. These would be revisited at the end of the week. Here’s some of what they wrote: At the end of the week, they had to put together a presentation about how their week went and what they have learned from the experience. They were also asked if their views on construction had changed. They...
by Sarah Topping | Aug 9, 2022 | Awards, News
We have recently been awarded our second RoSPA Gold Award as a combined region in North & Scotland for our health & safety performance in 2021. Accidents at work and work-related ill health not only cause major disruptions to business processes but the effect on the quality of life of the individual cannot be understated. That’s why good safety performance deserves to be recognised and rewarded. It is one of the most prestigious and recognised schemes in the world, with almost 2000 entries every year and a reach of over 7 million employees. Established in 1956, The RoSPA Health & Safety Awards offer organisations a prime opportunity to benchmark safety performance year on year and ensure consistent performance between sites. They also provide an effective route to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to raising health and safety...
by Sarah Topping | Aug 8, 2022 | Contract awards, News, Project Information
We have recently been appointed by hub South West Scotland as the preferred bidder to deliver the new St Kevin’s Primary School and community facilities, on behalf of North Lanarkshire Council. The modern learning, teaching and community campus will be situated close to its existing location in Bargeddie. The introduction of an additional new hub will allow for a more spacious community facility to successfully meet the needs of North Lanarkshire’s growing population, by increasing its capacity to 242 pupils when complete. The new campus will offer a modernised hub incorporating generous classrooms and outdoor learning facilities alongside a large gym hall and impressive multi-use games area. Helping to bring a fresh outlook, pupils are involved in the design process and will take part in workshops to offer their creative visions as inspiration for the new campus. The local community will benefit throughout the build as eight new construction roles will be created, including two modern apprenticeships, approximately 30 work placements and over 100 training opportunities provided. Works are due to begin on the site in summer 2023, with an expected completion date of mid-2024. “To date we have successfully delivered over £116 million of educational projects for North Lanarkshire Council. As delivery partner we are helping drive North Lanarkshire’s school estate strategy and we have a further three live projects on site worth over £58 million. As an industry collective we are focused on working together to create first class built environments which bring positive impacts for the wider community and support the local economy through a wide range of initiatives. “Having already delivered a large number of...
