‘Safe T Cert’ spells new way forward

The Construction Employers’ Federation (CEF) is set to participate in an initiative known as ‘Safe T Cert’.

The scheme, which is designed to improve the standard of safety management in the construction industry here through continual improvement, was welcomed by Ms Teresa Townsley, HSENI Board member and a member of the Shadow Board of Invest Northern Ireland, who was presenting the first certificates to a number of companies under the Construction Industry contractors Safety Certification scheme.

Speaking at the awards ceremony at CEF headquarters, Malone Road, Belfast, Ms Townsley said: “Safe T Cert is an excellent example of the construction industry taking positive action to provide evidence of health and safety competence in a form which is easily understood by clients.”

The scheme involves the auditing of participating contractors which allows their health and safety performance to be closely monitored. Contractors coming up to standard will then be issued with a Safe T Cert certificate.

Over the last decade, a total of 44 workers have died in Northern Ireland as a result of accidents in the construction industry, with six of these deaths occurring since January last year. This represents a fatal accident rate for Northern Ireland more than double that of the construction industry in Great Britain.

However, Ms Townsley also noted that apart from the death toll there was a further price to be paid, she added: “Quite apart from the human cost, health and safety failures add to project costs and cause unnecessary delays. Research has shown that the cost of accidents on a typical large construction site may amount to almost 10 per cent of the contract price. It is widely recognised that good health and safety management is crucial to securing optimum value for money.”

The Safe T Cert initiative is also notable in that it derives from close co-operation between Northern Ireland’s Construction Employers Federation (CEF) and its counterpart in the Republic of Ireland, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).

Both the President and the Managing Director of CEF, Michael Ferguson and Tony Doran respectively, were present at the awards ceremony, and welcomed Ms Townsley’s comments. (MB)