Tilbury Douglas Apprentices Thank RVT Group For Inviting Them to ‘Action on Site Health’

We launched our first event in 2019; since then we have run 15 successful events, including 8 in London, 2 in Chester, 2 in Scotland, 1 in Manchester, 1 in Northampton, and 1 online (in 2020). The events have collectively attracted over 2000 registrations, and are always free of charge to attend. ‘Action on Site Health’ events focus on health-hazard control measures, and the objective is to share best practice so that occupational ill-health is reduced on site.

We were therefore thrilled when Tilbury Douglas confirmed that they would be sending 10 graduates and apprentices to ‘Action on Site Health - London - 2025’. This group of young people are the future of the construction industry, and it is imperative that they understand the importance of health-hazard control, early in their career.

Topics covered at this event included: lung health, hearing health, mental health and health surveillance. We spoke to some of the apprentices and graduates to find out what their key take-aways were:

Aadam Audhuli is a Graduate Site Engineer, and was shocked by the health impacts of Silica Dust (RCS). He feels that more emphasis could to be put on health in construction (not just safety). He also took notes on ear defenders – as he didn’t realise that over-specification is just as dangerous as under-specification, as it will make alarms and warnings harder to hear.

Tessa Hawes has just started in a Bid Manager role, and she explained that this event highlighted the need to ensure health-hazard control costs are factored in at bid level.

Katie Ashton is an Apprentice Building Service Engineer and works with M&E contractors; she explained that they usually focus on the risk of live wires - she didn’t realise that dust and noise are also highly dangerous.

Elvin Koonjul is a Graduate Quantity Surveyor, and was devastated to hear that over 7000 construction workers have taken their own life over the past 10 years. He hopes that with more mental health first aiders being introduced within the industry, it will reduce the number of people suffering with mental health conditions and reduce the suicide rate.

Elvin was also very good at the Health Quiz - for a while he was top of the leader board, but eventually finished in 6th place by answering 8 questions correctly within 1m26s. When asked how he felt about being knocked out of pole position, he jokingly explained that he had to pull back because he didn’t want to show everyone else up!

Education and sharing best practice is something that Tilbury Douglas and RVT Group both feel passionately about. Both companies have ESG strategies that include a strong focus on training and professional development. By running events like these and supporting apprenticeship schemes, we not only hope to reduce occupational ill-health, but we also hope to help close the current skills gap in the construction sector.