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Zero hours lost to injuries on site is the target Emcor set itself at the beginning of 2004. The M&E contractor hasn鈥檛 quite got there yet, but accident rates have fallen by 77% over the past two years.

Sean Black, Emcor鈥檚 health and safety manager, regrets that the company hasn鈥檛 reached the zero mark yet, but says the significant reduction demonstrates that its staff and subcontractors have become more aware of best practice on site.

Emcor鈥檚 research found that 80% of accidents were caused by human error while the rest were down to design and equipment flaws. Black says most workers have a 鈥渕isguided sense of loyalty鈥�, and although they may be aware that their company is not fully complying with health and safety issues, as long as problems or accidents haven鈥檛 occured, they carry on doing the wrong thing and don鈥檛 say anything.

The health and safety culture Emcor has implemented is one that 鈥渆mpowers鈥� employees. The Take 5 action plan encourages them to take five minutes before starting a job to assess any potential risk and ensure they have the necessary tools and materials to carry it out safely.

鈥淲e try to use a safety behavioural process to train people to spontaneously realise that if something is not entirely safe they shouldn鈥檛 be doing it,鈥� says Black. The core idea is that if a site worker thinks their equipment might not be reliable, they should have the confidence and ability to go to their site manager and say, 鈥淚 am not using this.鈥�

Black is adamant that the only way to improve best practice is to support staff. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about providing training; you have to give the staff the right tools to be able to do the job properly,鈥� he says.

Our employees have a direct feel for what we try to do, whereas some of our subcontractors only work on a one-off basis and for a very short duration. They don鈥檛 buy into the culture

Sean Black, health & safety manager

The company has invested 拢25,000 to run the training for its zero accidents policy. It has also set up a financial incentive whereby the 2,000 staff are tested on their practical and theoretical safety knowledge. Every month, the company organises a draw in which three members of staff are selected. Each person is awarded a prize of 拢100 if they pass the assessment.

The next challenge for Emcor is to encourage subcontractors to gain a better understanding of site safety and put it into practice. The 77% reduction in accidents is for Emcor alone. The percentage drop for the company and its subcontractors, which covers more than 2.5 million working hours since 2004, is much smaller, at 46%. 鈥淲e鈥檝e noticed a better performance among our direct employees because the message is continuous through newsletters and safety bulletins that we address directly to their home,鈥� says Black. 鈥淭hey have a direct feel for what we try to do, whereas some of our subcontractors only work on a one-off basis and for a very short duration. They don鈥檛 buy into the culture.鈥�

Emcor has tried to spread best practice among its subcontractors by showing them Take 5 and zero accident initiatives that they can bring back to their own businesses. It will soon offer nationwide quarterly training for subcontractors, following successful one-off courses. It also conducts interviews and site inspections to evaluate their performance.

Black says the firms are generally co-operative. Following the onsite evaluation they tend to raise the level of basic training among their staff. 鈥�

But those that tend to perform less well don鈥檛 like it,鈥� he says.

Black adds that one of its subcontractors had a very poor record when it was audited 18 months ago, mainly because of poor practice in working at height. After three months of training and setting new priorities, the company reached a 92% satisfaction rate. 鈥淲e encouraged this company to train its 120-strong workforce to reduce accidents using the argument that it would make it more saleable on the market. It鈥檚 not just for us. It also benefits our competitors,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ot, of course, that we would want them to go off and work for everyone else.鈥�