Product category:
Filters and Centrifuges
News Release from: Biwater Treatment
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 04 December 2003
Buxton 'safety culture' gets Severn
Trent award
Biwater Treatment has won the Severn Trent 2003 Health and Safety Award for its performance on the new Buxton Sewage Treatment Plant: based on submissions made by the contractors themselves
Biwater Treatment has won the Severn Trent 2003 Health and Safety Award for its performance on the new Buxton Sewage Treatment Plant Instead of being chosen from nominations made by Severn Trent staff, this year's award was based on submissions made by the contractors themselves, followed at the final stage by presentations and interviews of the project teams to establish which had developed the most effective 'safety culture'
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 12 Aug 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Dual site for new Buxton Wastewater plant
Biwater Treatment has started work on the UK PDS 8.2 Million upgrading of Buxton Wastewater Treatment Plant, which will use fine bubble diffused aeration and MBR filtration on a separate site
New Ledbury WwTW will remove phosphorus
Biological phosphorus removal to meet UWWTD tightening discharge consent is central to the Biwater Treatment contract at the Severn Trent Water Ledbury wastewater treatment works in Herefordshire
The Buxton plant is on a restricted split site adjacent to a significant number of major hazards - a railway, the River Wye, the A6 main road, a large supermarket and the town centre itself.
From the very beginning of the planning and design stage, Biwater worked with Severn Trent to minimise safety risks, often by finding alternatives to potentially dangerous procedures.
For example, existing sewer systems were re-used to avoid laying new pipes in heavily contaminated land; and piling beside the A6 trunk road for a new pipe bridge over the river has been avoided by using a road crossing instead.
Further reading
Third UK membrane bio-reactor filtration project
Biwater Treatment has secured its third major contract incorporating membrane bio-reactor filtration - for the Northern Ireland Water Service's Ballyclare wastewater treatment works in County Antrim
ISO 14001 'road-tested' on wastewater project
Redevelopment of the Severn Trent Water Packington wastewater treatment works in Leicestershire helped Biwater Treatment to win ISO 14001 approval for its environmental management system
Since construction started, the site management teams from both parties have been working closely with the Biwater safety department.
Some of the initiatives adopted have been very simple, such as issuing operatives with safety glasses and gloves of their choice, which has nonetheless been very successful in reducing minor accidents.
Other examples include logging the number of hours each person uses vibrating tools to avoid the risk of vibration white finger; and using a tower crane to reduce plant movements and storage problems.
In the view of Biwater operations manager Nick Addison, it is good teamwork every day on site that is the real driver behind the successful reduction in risk to operatives and interface management.
"Teamwork with the operatives starts during our induction programme and Safety Action Group meetings, which are chaired by the site manager on a bi-monthly basis and attended by representatives from all trades and companies involved on the site," he says.
"This has created a teamwork approach between Biwater, Severn Trent Operations and our sub-contractors, which does more than just disseminate safety information down the managerial chain.
It gives positive feedback from site operatives, who see that the important part they play in the site team is recognised.
"In return, we they exhibit a truly personal ownership of the whole issue of safety - along with a greater sense of professionalism and increased job satisfaction.".
• Biwater Treatment: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Processingtalk email newsletter
• Processingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
