A 'Common' Goal
2 February 2010
Costain's staff at the Bell Common M25 tunnel refurbishment
programme for the Highways Agency, have gone into 2010 determined
to maintain their 2009 safety performance that saw them turn in
more than a million man-hours without a single reportable
accident.
Up to 200 people are working on the £90million programme to
bring the tunnel on the northern stretch of the M25 London orbital
motorway up to the latest safety standards.
The project got underway in October 2008 and is currently
"significantly ahead" of the projected March 2010 completion date,
although Project Manager, Andy Firth, cautions that much
commissioning work remains to be done before the tunnel can be
handed back to the Highways Agency.
He puts much of the speedy progress to date down to an
established supply-chain and an integrated project delivery team
with the client's representatives, Mouchel. Extensive
off-site precasting and prefabrication of components for the
refurbishment has also helped.
Moving this work off-site has also helped in the project's fine
safety record to date, says Firth. By the end of 2009, around 1.1
million man-hours had been completed without a reportable accident.
Firth puts the safety record down to "Very careful planning and
lots of innovation in terms of the work. There's also very close
interaction with the supply chain, which is the same as on our
similar previous M25 job, the Holmesdale tunnel."
Other factors helping to keep down the accident rate include a
site drug and alcohol policy, plus medicals for all personnel
before they start work.
Ends