Welcome to the Hercules newsletter

 

This communication aims to keep you updated on key company and industry news. We hope you find the information useful. If you have any feedback we would be happy to hear from you. Please contact the office on 01793 336851 or email info@hercules-construction.co.uk

 

FIR – Fairness, inclusion and respect

With an industry pipeline of £600 billion, our industry faces a huge skills shortage.
To meet the demands the construction industry needs to:

  • Recruit 45,000 entirely new workers each year
  • Retain current employees
  • Develop our current construction talent

 

To do this we must become a more inclusive industry that welcomes and supports the needs of people.

At Hercules we are looking to embed an inclusive culture, so that each individual is valued, and people feel they are supported to do the best job they can. Hercules are supporting the industry with this initiative and have numerous ambassadors across the business as well as Ciaran Alstowe (Key Account Manager) who is now trained to conduct FIR introductory training.

We will be looking to roll out an ‘Introduction into Fairness, Inclusion and Respect’ across all our sites and we also welcome ideas on how we can become a more inclusive company. You will also begin to see tool box talks on ‘appropriate language’, ‘banter’ and many more related topics.

To get involved:

  • Fill in our latest diversity form
  • Contact us on areas you think could be improved
  • Contact the office if you are interested in becoming a FIR ambassador or would like more information on the programme
  • Participate in the training once you are invited

General Data Protection Regulations – GDPR

During May you should have received an email from Debbie Smith, Office Manager, regarding the introduction of the GDPR.

In summary Hercules will only collect information on individuals that is necessary for legal or contractual reasons and having obtained the information from you as the employee.

The categories of personal data that we collect and process includes information such as personal data (name, address, DOB etc.), financial details (i.e. bank account details for payment) and employment details. Information will only be shared with our Clients for job matching/recruitment and compliance auditing purposes – no information will be retained by our Clients and the information will not be shared with any other third parties without your prior consent. Further details are available on our website www.hercules- construction.co.uk

The email also confirmed that future payroll information will be communicated to the listed email address. If you wish the information to go to another email address then please inform the office as soon as possible.

Scheme – RISQS

In order to be able to sponsor operatives to work on the railway we need to be certified to the RISQS scheme. During June we completed our annual audit following a review of our systems and processes. We are pleased to confirm that we remain a 5-star contractor.

Performance Reviews and Feedback

During the quarter we have received some excellent feedback on our sites.

We continue to receive high scores from Costain as part of their quarterly performance reviews where our projects are scored on a number of aspects including health and safety, collaboration, quality, time and value for money. Between January – March 2018 7 of our sites were scored in the highest category available (blue).

Feedback from two of our recently completed projects has also been excellent:

Client feedback from Medmenham Boreholes: “Quality of work is outstanding. Good gang on site, front-line supervisor lead a good team, asset to the company”

Client feedback from Dorney WTW: “Very good leadership from the front-line supervisor. Excellent health and safety attitude from whole team”

Well done to all involved.

Staying Safe in the Sun

With the summer months upon us it’s important to remember to stay safe in the sun. Employees who work outside are at greater risk of

dehydration, heat stroke and skin cancer.

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK with heavy sun exposure linked to the majority of cases.

There are some practical things we can all do to ensure we stay safe in the sun.

 

Tips for staying safe in the sun:

  • Work and take breaks in the shade when possible
  • Apply sunscreen 15-30 minutes before going into the sun and reapply every 2 hours – chose a factor relevant to your skin type i.e. if you burn easily then you may prefer to use a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or more
  • Sunscreens provide protection, but they must be used in conjunction with other protection methods and must not be used simply to spend longer in the sun
  • When buying sunscreen, the label should have an SPF of at least 15 to protect against UVB and at least four-star UV A protection. In addition, make sure the sunscreen is not past its expiry date
  • Choose loose fitting clothes to keep cool in the heat
    • Stay hydrated – aim to drink

6-8 glasses of water a day. Drink little and often and carry a water bottle with you during the day

Check your skin:

  • Look for changed or newly formed moles or any skin discolouration
  • Check any growths which appear on your face, especially around the nose and eyes and on the backs of the hands
  • Show your doctor any moles which may change in size, colour, shape or start to bleed
  • If you work outdoors and have any kind of medical check-up tell the doctor you have an outdoor job and ask them to check for any suspicious signs

Hercules Onboarding App

Over the next few weeks we will be launching a new app in order to streamline our recruitment and onboarding process. Rather than continuing to rely on heavy paper- based systems the app will allow individuals to register their interest and upload their documentation directly including locations where they are interested in working and when they are available. Individuals will then be contacted when roles come up in the area. More information to follow in due course.

Current Opportunities

We have various vacancies for ongoing works in and around Peterborough, the M20, A14, M4, M6 and Avonmouth. If you know of any suitable candidates then please contact Josh Plaister, 01793 336851 or email josh@hercules- construction.co.uk