Construction contractors are under constant pressure to improve margins, reduce costs and improve predictability. So how can contractors do this without cutting corners? Should they sacrifice health & safety to try and expedite a project?
The answer is clearly no. Construction companies must motivate their contractors to be pro-active, develop new approaches, solutions and work with them to reduce risk. And this should apply to all aspects of their working relationship, to try and develop the best possible – one which is beneficial to all parties.
This is never more important than when adopting an effective HAV management policy. With more than 658,870 construction workers across the UK using power tools, construction firms should be working with their contractors and sub-contractors to adopt a consistently rigorous approach to managing exposure to HAV.
Why? What’s in it for everyone? Well obviously, the most important benefit is the maintenance of a healthy and fit workforce and minimising the risk of any workers contracting HAVS. But there are many other benefits which should provide ample motivation to contractors to become more pro-active in their approach.
Managed effectively, a HAV risk management solution should help all parties not only protect their employees and workers against HAVS, but by tracking tools used to identify HAV risk, also help them identify cost savings through tool utilisation and operator deployment.
The new Reactec Analytics Platform (RAP) is one such solution which will allow business to reap these benefits. Combined with our industry-leading Havmeter, RAP is a new cloud based reporting platform and automated data collation, which will deliver a more practical and effective solution to assess and control HAVS risk, optimise productivity and reduce costs. The online system provides company-wide access to intelligent and practical reports so more managers, team leaders and operators can collectively work to better understand and manage their HAVS risk in a way not possible until now.
By tracking tool trigger times and tool performance, the system provides a business with clear information on how their tools are being used, helping them to improve tool utilisation, deployment and performance. This, in turn, eradicates guesswork and prevents unnecessary outlay on premature equipment maintenance or replacement. Over-reliance on specific tools can also be identified to re-address the tool workload balance.
In their efforts to improve margins, reduce costs and improve predictability, construction contractors should start by looking at their approach to HAV management. Using a system such as RAP may well just tick all three boxes!
