The health, safety and wellbeing of our employees is one of our core values. We are constantly investing in innovative ways to improve practice such as introducing our ‘SafeDay’ and ‘Activ8’ campaigns.
Safety is an essential component of all activities and we ensure employees personally commit to the continuous improvement of our health, safety, and wellbeing objectives. This is epitomised and led by the behaviours and actions of our Board of Directors and management team who believe safety is the most crucial investment we can make.
AG has a robust integrated HSEQ management system which is accredited to the internationally recognised standards ISO45001, ISO9001 and ISO14001. Using these standards as a framework we identify, control, and reduce the health & safety risks in our workplace and actively promote employee well-being, ensuring a positive safety culture is embedded across the business.
We constantly lead the way with innovative solutions to health and safety issues within the industry and our commitment to constant improvement is highlighted through continual investment in pioneering products such as the Engage app as well as the Vertica Machine Install Clamp – which led to AG being awarded Health and Safety Product of the Year. The clamp was designed to increase safety and efficiency during the installation process of retaining wall blocks. This is a historically manual and labour-intensive process, evolving into one with no manual labour– tying into our company vison of making construction “better, faster and safer for all”.
Through our Activ8 programme we promote a healthier, happier, and productive work environment, raising awareness of the importance of mental wellbeing. We have several trained mental health first aiders on our sites, across all levels of the business, ensuring there is always someone to listen.
We run health promotion fayres, where local health professionals offer various health screening services such as cancer screening, smoking cessation support, skin scanning and reduced membership to gyms. We also provide regular health surveillance for all employees, facilitated by occupational health professionals to identify work related health problems allowing any corrective workplace adjustments to be made.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought the programme to the fore. This was a time when staff faced higher levels of uncertainty and worry leading to AG believing staff wellbeing was more important than ever. The programme promoted wellbeing through “Wellness Wednesday” weekly health advice as well as “Time to Talk” days where employees were encouraged to take “Time out” and have a “chit Chat” with their colleagues. We also delivered “Careona” packs to all staff, including various items to pick up their spirits and help manage the risks of Covid-19.
AG have an Employee Assistance Programme facilitated by Inspire Workplaces NI, giving employees access to a free confidential counselling and support service. We recently introduced “Health Shield”, a health cash plan allowing employees to be reimbursed for costs associated with everyday healthcare needs, ensuring they can focus on the importance of their wellbeing without financial worry.
