Budimex wins the ‘Build Safely’ competition

The construction of the new power unit at Turów Power Station won the Build Safely competition. The project was thus recognised as the safest construction site in Poland. The competition is organised on a regular basis by the National Labour Inspectorate, and its partner is the Agreement for Safety in Construction. The contractor for the development was a consortium of Budimex, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe and Tecnicas Reunidas.

The ‘Build Safely’ competition aims to promote building contractors who ensure safe workplaces in the process of the construction of buildings, and in particular, to popularise valuable, praiseworthy achievements of employers. This time, the prestigious first place in the competition went to Budimex.

‘The safety of Budimex employees and subcontractors working on our contracts is a priority for us. Active measures that we have been implementing in this scope have contributed, over the last ten years, to a significant increase in the level of safety and reduction by almost a half, when compared to 2011, of the number of accidents on our construction sites. As part of the current CSR strategy, we are focusing on eliminating fatal accidents completely and reducing the number of severe and light accidents in the coming years’ – says Artur Popko, President of Budimex SA.

‘The construction of the new power unit at the Turów Power Station carried out by Budimex won the “Build Safely” competition at the national stage. Thanks to the joint actions of our employees and the Regional Labour Inspectorate in Wrocław, no serious or fatal accident occurred on the construction site during the contract execution. This is the most effectively protected power unit construction site in Europe in terms of health and safety. Everyone returned safely - without any accidents - to their homes’ – says Piotr Świecki - Director of Power and Industrial Construction at Budimex SA.

At the national stage of the competition, 13 construction sites - finalists at the voivodeship level - were evaluated. Out of them, three were recommended by the Council of the Chief Labour Inspector for Work Safety in Construction to be awarded prizes in the competition. The criteria for assessment in the competition were not only the development of the construction site, taking actions aimed at preventing accidents or assessing the accident rate, but also the coordination and effectiveness of supervision over compliance with OHS rules and regulations by all operating entities.

‘The Jury appreciated the involvement of the entire occupational safety management team during the implementation of such a strategic investment in Poland as the construction of a new power unit at the Turów Power Station in Bogatynia. On the evaluated construction site, they appreciated the good coordination of works taking place on many levels and in many buildings and the correct application of health and safety procedures. The fact that no fatal or serious accidents at work occurred on an investment of this scale, with a very high number of people working, deserves special recognition. The excellent coordination of the work of many subcontractors and overcoming language barriers when defining and communicating safety regulations and principles of work (a total of 23,500 people from 37 countries worked on the project over a period of 7 years) determined the decision of the Jury and the awarding of the highest prize in the Competition’ – says Jakub Chojnicki - Director of the Supervision and Inspection Department of the State Labour Inspectorate, Member of the Council of the Chief Labour Inspector for Safety in Construction.