HSE employee, Rhaynukaa Soni, has been named ‘Female professional of the Year’ at the Political and Public Life Asian Voice Awards.
Rhaynukaa was presented with the award by one of Britain’s main Asian newspapers, Asian Voice, for her work with the HSE Construction Division’s London outreach project.
The outreach project was set up by the HSE after research proved that migrant construction workers were particularly vulnerable to health and safety risks, owing to language barriers and different perceptions of risk.
The award reflects the impact that the outreach project is having on the Asian community and Rhaynukaa’s key role in raising awareness of health and safety among construction workers with an Indian background, and informing them of their basic rights.
Rhaynukaa said: “I’m thrilled to receive this award. The work that the outreach team is doing is so important in ensuring the health and safety of migrant workers.
“The workers we visit often have no knowledge of the HSE, or of their basic rights. We want to make sure that they know who we are and how we can help and protect them using existing law, and make them aware that they have just as many rights to a healthy and safe working environment as indigenous workers.”
HSE chief inspector of construction Philip White said: “This is a real triumph for Rhaynukaa and for the HSE. The work that Rhaynukaa and the outreach team are doing is really making a difference to health and safety in the construction sector.
“The outreach team was set up to help us target health and safety information at some of the more vulnerable workers in construction and allow us to get our messages across much more effectively. Reducing the risks faced by the most vulnerable enables all construction workers to work in safer conditions and, we hope, will minimise potentially dangerous incidents on site.”
