Taking the holistic approach: Executive Director BAM Ireland Alasdair Henderson on safety and wellbeing

by | Nov 8, 2022

Safety Week 2022 Gold Sponsor

People are the cornerstone of our strategy – Building a Sustainable Tomorrow where safety and well-being are a prerequisite. We are committed to a workplace where employees and partners feel healthy, included, engaged, and supported.

BAM encourages our employees to achieve a good work-life balance so they can achieve their best for themselves and for our customers. As the industry prepares to deliver the modern infrastructure and built environment required by society, we continue to take an active part in ensuring the necessary skills, technologies and procurement reforms are in place to drive more effective, more sustainable, and more predictable outcomes for our customers.

As part of the BAM UK and Ireland Division of Royal BAM Group, we believe by instilling a culture where safety and well-being are unconditional, and also developing a workforce that reflects the diversity of our customer base and the communities where we operate, helps our business thrive.

Rory’s Stories at BAM during Safety Week

The Covid experience taught the industry that ingrained ways of working, such as having to be on-site all the time, are not always necessary. The construction industry is now accessible to a new and diverse cohort of technical professionals, who seek a better work life balance with a hybrid flexible working model that does not require them to be on-site all the time.

The pandemic has also heightened our awareness of the importance of good mental health that goes beyond what happens onsite. Therefore, we take a comprehensive, holistic approach – both at work and at home. In addition to our mandatory LTO safety training suite, we provide a portfolio of health and well-being initiatives designed to encourage employees to evaluate, improve, and maintain their health, safety, and wellbeing.

Some examples include:

• Safety culture programme – ‘Your Safety is My Safety’ aims to inspire and motivate employees to look out for themselves and each other, every day

• Monthly safety focus campaigns

• Intranet Wellbeing hub supporting our 180-strong Wellbeing Champions in the UK & Ireland Division who are mental health First Aid trained and are there to listen and help

• BAM Safety and Well-being Day held annually in October where we take time out to learn about the link between safety and well-being

• Our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is provided by our partners LAYA to help colleagues manage work or personal issues from mental well-being support to financial assistance

• Launch of Peppy, an app to help those struggling with menopause symptoms and discusses why this help is so important

• #BAMathon Challenge – where teams of 10 competed to cover as much distance as possible for the month of June by walking, running, swimming and biking

• As Gold Sponsor of #CIFSafety22, our site teams welcomed guest speakers from the Lighthouse Club, the Samaritans, and Rory’s Stories

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