Crossrail has signed up to the Constructing Better Health Charter to ensure that its management of occupational safety and health meets industry standards.
Crossrail is Europe’s largest construction project and will provide a new high-frequency railway for London and the South East when it’s completed in 2017. Crossrail’s support for the Constructing Better Health (CBH) scheme will ensure that it remains at the forefront of health and safety and occupational health standards in the construction industry, and will also help Crossrail to implement a continuous improvement programme.
The standard will be used by Crossrail’s auditing teams and project managers to ensure the correct occupational health standards are being maintained throughout the programme. All contractors working for Crossrail will be required to sign up and implement the CBH standards, which will help to protect the health and wellbeing of construction workers involved in project.
CBH chief executive Michelle Aldous believes Crossrail’s decision to implement the charter will have a big impact on the construction industry. She said: “Up to 14,000 people are expected to be employed by Crossrail at its peak, with thousands more during the programme as a whole. The scale of Crossrail provides a unique opportunity to implement a step-change in occupational health for construction workers. Crossrail’s commitment to the CBH Charter will have a far-reaching impact on the industry as all Crossrail contractors will also be required to implement the CBH standards.”
Crossrail programme director, Andy Mitchell, added: “From the beginning Crossrail has adopted a zero accident health and safety philosophy and ensured that health and safety values are embedded at every level. Too often it is wrongly assumed that health and safety only applies on construction sites but decisions taken at the project design stage can also have a determining impact.€ﾨ €ﾨ
“Protecting the health of construction workers is of critical importance to Crossrail and occupational health has a key role to play in identifying and controlling health risks.“
