Reflection 39: Working Together to Achieve Excellence!

This week’s reflection starts with an event that occurred on site the previous Saturday.

We were invited by a client to attend site to assist with the oversight of phase 1 of the removal of a Layher fully covered roofing system over the completed shell and core of a bespoke and unique building.

The significant challenge posed by the activity was that the removal was to be undertaken without the assistance of a crane due to site constraints. When the scaffold was erected and covered, there was no building, just a level concrete slab from which a progressive scaffold was erected to provide a working platform to construct and cover the temporary roof.

The planning for this milestone event started some months prior to the removal. A contract lift to remove cassettes, pairs of trusses linked by their bracing, to reduce the time working at height was deemed not practical due to the location of the building and access constraints. A manual deconstruction approach was adopted.

The challenges were many. The first, and most obvious, was to protect the scaffolders working at height from a fall and from harm during manual handling, including lowering awkward and heavy truss components. The second was to prevent the fall of any scaffold component or equipment that could damage the bonded solar panels on the roof below and any other exposed element.

Fast forward to Saturday morning.

The day started with a team briefing to clearly communicate the objectives and provide Lee with an opportunity to introduce himself to the scaffold team and thank them for giving up their weekend to work on the project.

What followed was an exemplary example of individuals working under the leadership and instruction of their supervisor as one cohesive entity. All played their part in a safe and respectful manner to accomplish the day’s objectives without incident.

What stood out most was the leadership of the supervisor and the communication across the whole team as they climbed the structure, uncoupled components and passed them to the team on the ground for stowage and removal to a designated area.

With every shared lift and movement, the supervisor checked with all hands-on operatives that they were secure and ready to lift.

Working together to achieve excellence!

Let’s dive in!

Monday — NFF Day & Train Journey

Monday commenced with a train trip to Oxford for a site compliance tour of a heritage ecclesiastical project in the centre of Oxford’s University campus. The church is surrounded on all sides by other buildings, making this a particularly challenging project in terms of logistics and scaffold management.

We were also active with the team at New Forest Fencing, assisting with the development of manufacturing safe working processes with the joiners, fabricators and management, and developing site-specific control documents for forthcoming projects.

A productive day with excellent teams.

Tuesday — End of Month Office Day

A vital end-of-month administration day: diaries, invoicing and final planning for October, projecting into November.

We also continued with development works for a Health and Safety File and Operation and Maintenance Manual for a project in its final phase. The intent is to hand over documents containing the essential information for the safe operation of the building prior to completion and as it comes into service.

Wednesday — SSSTS Training Day

We were engaged with our partners, MS Associates, to deliver an SSSTS Refresher Course. There was a good deal of information to pass over to the mix of delegates.

We are delighted to say that all delegates successfully passed the course: an excellent result for the delegates and for Leon, our trainer.

Wednesday also saw the team delivering a number of compliance tasks, from reviewing lifting plans and updating the temporary works register in our capacity as project Temporary Works Coordinator, to the further development of safe systems of work.

Thursday — Back Out on Site

The team were out on three different sites, two heritage and one new build, at different compass points and two out of county.

There were good conversations with the site teams and the opportunity to learn more about the history of the buildings we visit and life within them.

Back at base, we were busy writing up the reports of inspection from the morning’s tours and peer reviewing safe systems of work documents ahead of client issue for final development and client CDM coordination duties.

Friday — Team Day

The day was set aside for Leon and Lee to meet for their monthly strategy meeting. It was a productive day reviewing the past month’s achievements and identifying opportunities for improvement at both an organisational and personal level.

Strategy days are good. They are an intentional action to meet on a monthly basis for the team to come together, in person and virtually, to discuss matters and develop business and personal growth.

We are getting better at this as a team, particularly in following up on the actions agreed. This is Plan, Do, Check, Act in real time.

Closing thought — Honoured to be part of this group!

Saturday was a reminder of how individuals can come together, with good leadership, to achieve difficult objectives safely and with respect for the work accomplished by others.

Lee summed this up by stating that he was “honoured to be part of a collective of men who achieved excellence”.