Longworth Procurement Director Stephen Barnett, contemplates a question

Its the third in a series of 5 blog posts and Longworth’s SHEQ Manager, Melissa Fazackerley, asks each of the Longworth company directors a question about their area of work in relation to the construction industry as a whole. Blog post number 3 is from Procurement Director Stephen Barnett. Here is what Melisa put to Stephen:

How can we make positive changes within our supply chain in relation to health, safety and well-being?

In my opinion, I believe there are 3 key factors that will have positive impacts within our supply chain which can not only improve standards but will continually improve our standards to help us reach our target goals and initiatives.

Involve

Building and maintaining a safety culture starts from the beginning of the procurement process. At Longworth we hold pre-start meetings to discuss the project as whole, the demands, logistics and local environment so that our supply chain can fully understand the task ahead and what the collaborative goals are. Equally, it is important for Longworth to understand how the product being procured is manufactured, the contents, training requirements, how its packaged, delivered and the constraints imposed upon the supplier, that way we can all find the best solution, together as a team.

Communicate

In order to maintain a positive culture, Longworth holds continual Supplier Forums lead by Senior Management. We hold safety talks to discuss new systems and ways of working. This allows us to convey Longworth’s aims and initiatives, review issues recently encountered, share information around incidents, accidents & near misses and what the solutions are. The implementation of supplier forums mean that our key suppliers can share their commitments to H&S, share their good practices and promote lessons learned to avoid similar issues being repeated. We also ensure that the latest Material Safety Data Sheets are issued so that assessments can be carried out, risks get managed and alternatives are sorted.

Training

Properly trained employees will have a better understanding of the products, be fully aware of the pitfalls and hazards which will aid how the method of work and associated risks can be properly managed. It will also allow them to perform their roles better, build their confidence and not be too nervous to suggest how we can improve and report any issues that we may encounter on a project by project basis.

Procurement Director Stephen Barnett