NRA Annual Roads Conference Spotlight on Road Construction Safety
11th October 2007
The National Roads Authority (NRA) has unveiled plans to provide industry leadership in the area of construction safety.
Speaking today (9TH October 2007) at the Authority’s Annual Conference in Sligo Fred Barry, NRA Chief Executive said,
“With an annual construction budget of over €1billion the NRA is well placed to positively influence attitudes to Health and Safety in the construction industry. While the sector enjoys a very good safety record we want to strengthen the safety culture and practices within the NRA, Regional Design Offices, Local Authorities, Consultants and Contractors working on our projects. The Authority is committed to achieving higher performance levels and to developing a culture of continuous improvement in this area. During the next three years we will be rolling out various initiatives all aimed at improving our collective performance in a positive way through support and training.”
Outlining details of the plan Mr. Barry said,
“The NRA recognises that given the sheer scale of the roads programme it is important to ensure that best practice in terms of worker safety is employed and continually updated with improving standards. The NRA is developing a programme, which will measure and review performance in this important area. Consultants have been engaged to develop and implement a new Health and Safety Benchmarking System. This will ensure a consistent approach to health and safety for the planning, design, construction and procurement of NRA funded road projects.”
The Annual Conference provides a platform where Local Authority road engineers are given an opportunity to update their skills and be informed of new developments in the road sector.
Commenting on progress on the roads programme to date Fred Barry told delegates that improvement to the network continues at an intense pace with 500kms of new road under construction and that the major inter urban routes are on schedule for completion by 2010.
According to Mr. Barry projects are typically being delivered within budget and on time, a performance to be proud of, but it must also be recognised that it is now expected of us.
For further information please contact: Sean O' Neill, Head of Communications (01) 6658744/ (086) 8230600