4 September 2012

Personnel at sites around the Severn Trent Water framework contract have been receiving the benefit of visits from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Macmillan Cancer Nurses.

Over the past three years, 12 people with an average age of just 50 have died of heart attacks or strokes on Costain sites around the UK.

With this tragic toll in mind Graduate SHE Advisor, Laura Colleran, invited the BHF’s Ann Persson to visit four sites – Frankley, Minworth, Finham and Longbridge – to offer advice on staying healthy.

Ann gave a presentation on how minor changes to lifestyle could significantly reduce the risk of heart disease.

“Ann was delighted to get involved with Costain to increase the awareness of heart health for all employees on our sites,” said Laura. “The feedback from the sites was positive and it was encouraging to see them all getting involved.

“Hopefully it will be a relationship Costain can further develop with the BHF and introduce to sites company-wide.”

Ann echoed Laura's comments: “It was a pleasure delivering the sessions as staff were keen on picking up information about symptoms of heart attacks, what to do if someone has a heart attack and how to prevent it.”

Meanwhile, Macmillan nurses visited Frankley to raise awareness of skin cancer among staff  and conducted private, one-to-one sessions with anyone who had specific concerns. The occasion was an ideal opportunity also to check site staff’s blood pressure and 38 people took up the offer. Anyone above the recommended level was given advice on lifestyle changes that could help their health.

• Separately, Frankley is celebrating achieving ‘Very Good Site’ status under the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS). A first visit by CCS inspectors ranked site appearance, approach to health and safety plus adhering to CCS as just short of ‘exceptional’.

Ends