A $20 million, 18-month road duplication on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast has not only improved traffic flow for residents but was also a success for Sunshine Coast Council in terms of occupational health and safety.
The upgrade of Evans Street in Maroochydore, which was completed ahead of schedule and on budget, is one of the largest infrastructure projects delivered by Council.
While every project manager aims to avoid injuries on site, the significance of this project comes with having more than 900 personnel inducted into the project site – with a peak work force of 54 personnel – and more than 100,000 man hours free from Lost Time Injury (LTI).
Sunshine Coast Council CEO Michael Whittaker said good planning and a comprehensive induction process helped achieve excellent safety outcomes.
“To have no time lost to injuries throughout an 18 month project of this size is an achievement our team can be proud of,” Mr Whittaker said.
“The team did an excellent job with site inductions, going above and beyond to ensure everyone considered safety and wellbeing the top priority.
“When you consider how many people we had working on this site, the exceptional LTI statistics really are testament to how well the inductions and the entire project site was managed.”
A safety induction video, with segments from the project manager, project engineer, foreman, safety advisor and divisional councillor, was presented during inductions.
The project team also developed a web-based project app in conjunction with Council’s Human Resources team, ensuring all staff had easy access to operational project information after the inductions.
This included a detailed project overview, reference to legislation and links, a site contacts list, safe work method statements, site rules and Personal Protective Equipment requirements, emergency procedures and incident reporting guidelines, safety data sheets, and environmental and cultural heritage obligations.
Council credits keeping the public informed as helping to ensure staff safety, having provided regular traffic updates to nearby residents and businesses via letterbox drops and signage, and updates to the broader community via social media.
