Design team acclaimed for safety drive

Gregor Coster, chairman of Worksafe NZ, Beca's Tania Hyde and Jack Donaghy, and Craig Foss, Associate Minister of the ACC at the Safeguard Workplace Health & Safety Awards.

Engineering and design consultancy Beca took out the top prize at this year's Safeguard Workplace Health & Safety Awards for initiatives that have been largely driven by Tauranga-based civil engineer Tania Hyde and her Auckland colleague, project manager Jack Donaghy, and their teams.

Beca also won its category award.

The judges admired the determination of the company to sell the benefits of safety in design, internally and externally, said Peter Bateman, editor of Safeguard magazine and convenor of the judging panel. The judges noted that an internal competition to solicit projects in which safety in design made a demonstrable difference was well-supported.

"Beca's approach encompasses multiple stakeholders beyond the company's own staff and has raised the level of sophistication among large clients," the judges said.

Gavin Frost, who leads Beca in Tauranga, said winning the awards, which were announced earlier this year in Auckland, was a sign of the firm's increased focus on safety.

"For us, it's really a recognition of the work that sometimes falls a bit under the radar," said Mr Frost. "It's about being proactive about safety rather than reactive, and that's what safety in design is all about."

Ms Hyde and Mr Donaghy are UK expats and were familiar with the safety in design concept as a result of working with Britain's construction design and management protocols.

Ms Hyde said when she arrived in New Zealand, she was surprised to find a similar model was not in place, and began looking for opportunities to introduce it, along with Mr Donaghy. They received strong support from Beca's health and safety manager and group director practice development, David Carter.

The aim had been to come up with a company-wide, all-parties focus on safety at the design stage for every project, she said.

"Safety in design is an opportunity to get in right at the very start of a project when you're carrying out the design work, to think about how you can safely build, operate and maintain an asset," she said.

"The aim is to get all the good work in upfront, rather than deal with issues and retrofitting once you get out on site. And, as well helping to keep injuries down, it makes good sense financially."

Beca cites studies showing 40 per cent of work-related injuries could be linked to decisions made at the design stage.

One of the drivers for the firm's approach was the upcoming changes to workplace safety with the Health and Safety at Work legislation expected to take effect next April.

"The legislation isn't in place yet but, because of the impact you can have at the early design stage, as a consultancy it's something we should be doing. That's why it's been pushed through the business early, rather than waiting and being reactive."