Nicol of Skene are proud winners of The Excellence in Health and Safety award at the Trades Awards 2020!!
The virtual awards ceremony took place on Saturday and looked a bit different to the usual Trades Awards celebrations due to COVID-19. A special thanks to Mearns & Gill for organising such a great virtual evening!
Nicol of Skene specialises in civil engineering, multi-utilities, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) and residential works throughout the country. The company has grown from CEO Derek Nicol operating a single 1800 backhoe excavator in 1980 to becoming a leading civil engineering contractor which now employs over 90 staff and operates an extensive and varied plant and transport fleet. The quality and consistency of our works has led to Nicol of Skene becoming the 'contractor of choice' for many of our existing customers and has also resulted in a steady increase in our client base. The scope of works that we can accommodate range from small private works to multi-million pound projects as both Contractor and Principal Contractor.
We believe we won The Excellence in Health and Safety award due to our dedication to the protection of the health, safety and wellbeing of every employee from on site to board room. Despite the scale of the current operation Nicol of Skene still retains the family atmosphere and health and safety is at the core of everything that we do. We are very aware that we work in a challenging and often hazardous industry which continues to harm both workers and members of the public. We believe that everyone has a part to play in reducing these risks and only with open and honest consultation with our employees and contractors can we continue to improve our health and safety performance. Nicol of Skene are one of the few businesses to hold MURS accreditation from Lloyds register after achieving and maintaining GIRS, WIRS and NERS accreditations for our utilities works.
In early 2018 the company decided to bring the health and safety advisor function 'in-house' with the aim of improving compliance and raising the profile of health and safety throughout the business. All personnel receive regular health and safety training appropriate to their role. All sites are subject to routine health and safety inspections by our QHSE Systems Manager as well as formal and informal site visits and inspections by other members of the management team. Our continual focus on improving and developing our risk management procedures and processes benefits everyone involved in a project, we are committed to learning from others and adopting and integrating 'best practice' into our systems where possible.
Another way in which Nicol of Skene contributes to the health and safety of employees and other stakeholders is by continuing to focus on maintaining a modern plant and equipment fleet, incorporating the latest innovations and technology. Nicol of Skene recently purchased three new Volvo 360 degree tracked excavators which were carefully chosen for their reduced tail-swing and are fitted with height restrictors and 360-degree cameras to give the operator all round visibility.
The sustained investment in modern plant and regular upgrading of equipment, as well as the training and development of our personnel also gives our clients peace of mind and reassurance that works will be completed safely and efficiently. We often receive positive feedback on our high standard of health, safety and quality from our clients and other stakeholders such as local councils and communities.
We are extremely proud of the company’s heritage and achievements, so the fact that the Trades Awards are local to the North-East of Scotland and are judged by a panel of 'peers' from the local construction industry means that winning this award was a massive boost to the company and a massive vote of confidence. It was also a 'Thank You' to all our employees and contractors for working safely and ensuring that everyone goes home healthy at the end of the day. Winning this award acknowledges our employees for their consistent efforts to maintain a safe place of work and demonstrates to our customers that we are committed to meeting, and where possible exceeding, their health and safety goals.
Congratulations to Frank Williamson, our QHSE Systems Manager and everyone else at Nicol of Skene who works hard day to day to make this award possible. Also, a huge congratulations to all the other winners at The Trades Awards 2020!
