HETCo celebrates a new national record at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 for the most hours accrued without a reportable incident on a UK construction project.
The joint venture company between Ferrovial Agroman and Laing O’Rourke reached 5 million hours worked without a reportable incident under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations) at the end of September 2013, while building Heathrow Airport’s largest individual construction contract ever, Terminal 2A.
The record has also set the foundation for HETCo to operate under an industry leading Accident Frequency Rate (AFR) of 0.02.
HETCo Project Director Pablo Riesco said:
“This is an amazing achievement, especially for a project of Terminal 2A’s size and for the logistical challenges we faced. These include the close proximity to the airport’s southern runway, the Piccadilly underground line running 7 metres below the surface, the high possibility of service strikes and not to mention working 24/7, with more than 3,500 operatives on site every day, in a live operational environment – the country’s busiest airport”.
HETCo’s approach to health and safety has already been recognised by various independent construction agencies, including winning the South East Health & Safety Constructing Excellence award, receiving a Gold RoSPA award rating and consistently being ranked at a high standard by the Considerate Constructors Scheme.
HETCo was awarded the £820 million Terminal 2A contract in 2010, which included the demolition of the old Terminal 2 and Queen’s Building.
HETCo Construction Director Tony Court said:
“Achieving 5 million RIDDOR-free hours is testament to the unique safety culture that exists on the project. HETCo is making history at the airport and now the country. “At T2A we have made safety a personal issue - each person working on the project knows that it is our number one core value to ensure everyone gets home safe at the end of each day. A cornerstone of our safety policy involves each new inducted person being interviewed by a senior Project Manager and signing a unique safety agreement before they are able to begin work.”
Heathrow has invested £2.5 billion into the Terminal 2 redevelopment, making T2A a part of the largest privately funded construction project in the country, supporting 35,000 jobs over the course of it.
The project is on track with the terminal set to welcome its first passengers on 4th June 2014.
Editor’s Note:
HETCo
HETCo is a Ferrovial Agroman and Laing O’Rourke joint venture company established to complete the construction of the new Terminal 2A at Heathrow Airport. The works form part of the Heathrow £2.5 billion Terminal 2 replacement project, being the construction of T2A phase 1, T2B satellite building and a Multi Storey Car Park the main elements, amongst others. Awarded the £820 million phase 1 contract in 2010 through competitive tender, HETCo’s scope of works included the demolition of the old Terminal 2 and Queen’s Building, and the construction of the new main terminal building (T2A), including aircraft stands and Cooling Station. The JV company consists of 230 staff fulfilling roles in construction, health and safety, environment, quality assurance, design, engineering, logistics, project controls, planning and commercial. HETCo is also responsible for managing 75 subcontractors and more than 200 suppliers, with a workforce exceeding 3,500 on a daily basis.The terminal’s unique design and sustainability features will also contribute to reducing the carbon footprint by 40% of the two buildings it has replaced.
Heathrow Airport
As part of a £11bn airport development programme, Heathrow is replacing the old Terminal 2 (which stood for more than half a century before closing in 2009). The brand new building will reward flyers with an impressive new space, designed around the individual needs of the 21st century passenger. When it opens on 4th June 2014, the new Terminal 2 will serve 20m passengers a year. It will be home to STAR Alliance and Aer Lingus, germanwings as well as Virgin Atlantic’s domestic routes.
The new Terminal 2 has been designed with an aim to be as environmentally responsible as possible, with sustainability at the core of the programme. More than 95% of the buildings demolished to make way for the new terminal were recycled. In addition, the new Terminal 2 will be 40% more carbon-efficient than the previous building and extremely energy efficient; with biomass (wood chip) boilers, photovoltaic panels and a main cooling plant carefully chosen for its low global warming potential. Overall, Heathrow’s target is to recycle or compost 70% of airport waste by 2020.
Ferrovial Agroman
Ferrovial is the world’s leading investor in transport infrastructure, with revenues of £7bn and more than 80,000 employees in 15 countries. Its construction division, Ferrovial Agroman, manages major, complex, multi-disciplinary design and construction projects in international markets, in sectors including rail, highways, tunnels, ports and marine, aviation and energy. In London, its flagship projects include the Crossrail C300/410 Western Running Tunnels and Station Caverns, Crossrail C435 Farringdon Station, Heathrow’s new Terminal T2A and the Heathrow Post T5 Transfer Baggage Tunnel.
Laing O’Rourke
Laing O’Rourke is a globally diverse engineering enterprise with a commitment to delivering Excellence Plus performance, founded on 165 years of experience. We fund, design, manufacture, construct and maintain the built environment – providing the facilities to accommodate, educate, employ, transport, care for and sustain communities. Our business model comprises the full range of engineering, construction and specialist products and services. Through our fully integrated offer we are delivering single-source solutions across the client value chain for some of the world’s most prestigious public and private organisations.
