21 June 2018

Costain’s behavioural safety programme has been awarded platinum status by the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, making it one of only two organisations at this level worldwide.

During a week-long assessment visit, Dr Timothy Ludwig and Dr Angela Lebbon from the Cambridge Center, toured the Group’s projects to verify how behavioural science was being used to improve safety performance at the Group’s sites. In their assessment they said that leadership at Costain demonstrates visible and active support of its behavioural safety programmes where behavioural science is applied across the Group’s operations, organisational development, process safety, business system initiatives and joint ventures.

They also recognised that Costain cares about the wellbeing of its people, partners and supply chain and this is exemplified by managers’ willingness to listen, use positive reinforcement, correct problems in a no-blame manner, consistently apply safety management systems, and encourage engagement. They also commended the Group for its focus on mental health, spending on site welfare and quality personal protective equipment.  The Group was also recognised for: decreasing its corporate injury rate over a 17-year period; designing its working environments to promote safe performance and creating a learning environment that is rich with questioning, practice and reinforcement.

Darren James, managing director, infrastructure said, “The behavioural science programme is widely embraced and embedded across the business and throughout our supply chain. The implementation is being led by a team of expert practitioners and professional implementers with high levels of engagement at every level within Costain.”

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