Haines Electrical Service Wins Safety Award
Every day tradesmen must mitigate potential risks working on construction job sites. They need to constantly be considering ways in which they can prevent falls from height, inadvertent contact with equipment and plant, or exposure to live electrical parts.
Safety in the workplace is one of the most important elements in any industry but it is especially important when it comes to working in the Construction industry. We hope you find some comfort in the fact that behind the scenes the industry is constantly working to ensure the safest conditions for all workers.
Haines Electrical Service is a qualified electrical contractor who recognises the importance of health and safety in the workplace. We are accredited master electricians and members of the ME Safety Program. We additionally complete internal verification of competency assessment and training programs with our tradestaff.
Currently, our team are working with construction company McNab on their University of Queensland Student Residences Project at St Lucia. As a result of our staff’s excellent adherence to safe work practices, we were recently awarded the McNab Quality Safety Award.
McNab and Their Reputation
Founded by CEO Michael McNab in 1996, his mission was to deliver an enjoyable building experience to all his clients.
Over the last 25 years, the company has built quite a reputation for itself. Known for financial stability and high-quality work, McNab often exceeds client expectations which have allowed for the growth of many mutually beneficial long-term relationships. 80% of their projects have been sourced from long term repeat clients, who are active leaders in their field and have rated the McNab team 4.5 out of 5 stars.
The result has been an annual turnover of $400 million for projects and up to $120 million in value. As well as acknowledgements from major industry bodies Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) and the Property Council of Australia, for both the 2015 and the 2016 award for Best Overall Development.
Workplace Safety
Companies like Haines Electrical Service and McNab often pride themselves on providing a strong safety-first culture. According to the Queensland Government, “A safe workplace benefits everyone. It protects workers from injury and illness – but also increases productivity, lowers running costs and improves morale.”
No matter the job site, a company’s main priority should always be providing a safe and satisfactory workplace for onsite employees and for the employees who will be living or working in the building in future.
The risks that come with poor safety standards are not worth it. Low standards can result in fatal injuries and a delayed or failed project. Also, frequent accidents may occur, and this can lead to a damaged reputation, a spike in operational cost, and significant legal costs.
The team at McNab take safety so seriously, they offer construction safety awards to other companies who strictly follow all precautions. On September 10, 2020, Haines Electrical Services was added to that list, when we were awarded the McNab Quality Award for our ability to complete high-quality ITPs in a timely and efficient manner.
Everything You Need to Know About ITPs
An ITP is a plan that details critical points in the construction process. Before building begins, a quality engineer will sit down and make a list of all critical aspects of the job and how to inspect it, following the Definable Feature of Work (DFOW) process. A DFOW is any construction task, which is separate from other tasks and distinct in itself and has control requirements and a special work crew specific to that task. However, the concept of an ITP is so common that a basic template can be downloaded off the internet, so you can get started right away.
From there all inspections for the job will be scheduled. The goal of inspections is to ensure the quality control on projects is maintained and that all safety regulations are being met.
After the quality engineer drafts the ITP, it must be approved by the construction manager, the project manager, and the head engineer. Once approved one employee will be made responsible for all inspections. The first step – writing their name clearly on the top of the ITP.
It is recommended that you involve the client in the process as much as possible. Invite them to inspections and allow them the chance to see you do your due diligence. Document these meetings with dates and have the clients sign off to show they were there. Keep these documents for your records in case your standard of work should come into question in the future.
Overall, it works as a safeguard, which can prevent mistakes that cost: time, money, and reputation.
In conclusion, whether it is ITPs, job training, or just ensuring our employees are wearing the proper safety gear, Haines Electrical Services can confidently say we will never fall short in the safety department. We make sure to stay up to standard and enforce the rules, for every single client, no matter how small the task.
That is why the Haines Electrical Services team is proud to have been honoured for our work with ITPs for McNab’s University of Queensland Student Residences Project. For Haines Electrical, we were simply doing our job. The only goal on our mind was to ensure safe working methods and high quality of work, so for McNab to turn around and present us with a construction safety award is exciting!
We are especially glad to be receiving this safety award from McNab. A construction company with such a big reputation, who holds long-standing relationships with clients like Aldi, Bunnings, Lexus and Woolworths. To be acknowledged for our efficiency and overall standard of practice truly means a lot.
Simply put, this is an award we are proud to add to our resume. We love having the ability to ensure our future clients and employees that when working with Haines Electrical Services, you’re guaranteed high-quality work from our trained employees that are aiming for the success of your project, and now we have the awards to back us up.