29 February 2012

A small water treatment works in Gloucester has beaten many larger projects in the latest set of results released by the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS).

The initial visit by the CCS monitor to Severn Trent Water’s (STW) Chalford Water Treatment Works saw the Costain team achieve a score of 35.5 out of a possible 40, healthily exceeding Costain’s internal target of 34 and just short of reaching the top 10% of sites nationally.

Of the eight areas measured by the CCS, the team achieved the highest mark possible in the categories of Safety and Responsibility. This demonstrates that exceptional measures were being taken in these areas. All other areas measured achieved either four or 4.5 out of five, showing a ‘high level beyond compliance with the scheme’s requirements’.

The CCS monitor commented that Chalford was “a well set-up and managed site“. He added that there there was good co-operation between Costain and Severn Trent Water and was impressed with the use of ICE (In Case of Emergency) hard hat stickers containing relevant medical and contact details.

These, for example, list any pre-existing conditions that an individual may have, such as diabetes or epilepsy, which could be of vital assistance to a first aider in the event of an accident.

The monitor also remarked on the effect of the new text messaging service for ‘near misses’, which had seen a 600% increase in reporting levels.

Severn Trent Water is investing £1.4 million to upgrade and improve Chalford Water Treatment Works, which currently provides drinking water to around 23,000 customers in a series of small communities around Stroud.

The work involves replacement of pumps and control gear, which at over 30 years old are coming to the end of their working life. The upgrade will also see a number of safety improvements for operatives managing the site to help reduce operational costs over the long term.

Costain Site Agent, Chris Vice, said: “This is a great initial score that the site team should be proud of, especially seeing it is such a small project. We are now looking forward to improving our score during CCS’s second visit.”

Water Customer Director, Matt Crabtree, added: “This is a fantastic result for a small project, and highlights the efforts made by the team to build relationships with our customer.”

Ends