Managing our safety performance

Managing the safety performance of a large supply chain like ours is complex and demands collaboration.

The Supply Chain Safety Leadership Group is where that collaboration happens. As part of our home safe and well approach, the group was established to focus on common issues that affect the safety of our supply chain colleagues.

The group consists of representatives from 15 supply chain companies. Representatives rotate every month to keep as many companies involved as possible.

Since it began in March 2019, the Supply Chain Safety Leadership Group has identified eight areas of focus:

• accident investigation
• impact protection vehicles and incursions
• safety in design
• utility strike avoidance
• Highways England passport scheme
• mental health
• safe use of plant
• 60mph through roadworks

Dedicated working groups explore each area, finding best practice and improvements for the whole supply chain to adopt.

Once the best course of action is agreed, the working group reports its recommendations to the supply chain safety leadership group for approval by way of a common intent document. The leadership group has produced common intent documents for:

• utility strikes
• impact protection vehicles and incursions

Phil Clifton, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty and Chair of the Supply Chain Safety Leadership Group says:

"In my near 30 years of experience safety, health and wellbeing related incidents are, when you analyse the true root cause, as a result of a failure in leadership.

"We know that when people come together in a collaborative force, truly willing to share best practice and have a mindset that allows innovation to drive change then you achieve much more.

"The Supply Chain Safety Leadership Group is such a force but like any group it needs the wider engagement of the whole community to succeed. My ask to everyone is to get involved by talking about the group, its aims related to Home Safe and Well, the common intents being produced and to be robust in expecting the highest standards possible."