THE Health and Safety (H&S) of all the people we employ and interact with on a daily basis remains our #1 priority in delivery of our fast-paced Army Basing Construction Programme, which has seen our workforce peak daily in excess of 1,300 operatives. The new facilities we are currently delivering will cater for soldiers rebasing from Germany this summer and Unit moves within the UK.

Over the years, the construction industry has seen significant improvements in H&S, but we know there is more we can do to raise the bar; one accident is one too many. Unfortunately, construction cannot always provide a risk-free working environment and these risks therefore need to be carefully managed and controlled.

I am delighted that more focus is now being put into the health and wellbeing of our people, including much-needed mental health awareness to inspire action and promote a message on positive mental health for all.

In February, we celebrated ‘Zero Harm Week’, an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of Zero Harm 24/7, which empowers our staff, contractors and customers to display the Courage to Care, looking after one another so we can achieve our goal of Zero Harm each and every day. Many events were held during the week and it was great to see so many get involved with the sharing of best practice and ideas across all our projects.

We should remember that safety is much more than just policies; it’s about adopting a positive safety culture day-in, day-out to proactively identify and minimise risk. We are extremely vigilant and committed to deliver safe working practices at Aspire Defence because we do care for everyone’s safety; that’s why it will remain our #1 priority in the delivery of new infrastructure for soldiers across South Wiltshire and Aldershot.

Remember that your safety does matter to those you work with and those who care about you. Taking a shortcut to get something done is never worth it!