M20 workers celebrate one million hours accident free
Roadworkers on a £92m motorway upgrade in Kent have reached a landmark of working more than one million hours without an accident or injury.
Kier operatives celebrate 1,000,000 hours accident and injury free
Highways England are upgrading 6.5 miles of the M20 between the M26 and Maidstone to a smart motorway, creating an extra lane in each direction and adding new technology to help drivers with their journeys. The Kier roadworks team delivering the project have been working since construction began more than a year ago without any of its employees on the road network suffering a work-related injury.
Around 2,000 members of staff have completed health and safety briefings and there are more than 250 operatives working on site each day.
Karen Davies, Highways England Head of Scheme Delivery, said:
Safety unpins everything we do at Highways England and I’d like to congratulate Kier in reaching this important milestone. A busy motorway like the M20 is a hazardous working environment and achievements like this are only possible with the right culture, with safety at its heart.
We will continue to work closely with our supply chain to bring new and innovative technologies to the road network that increase safety for road workers and users, as well as improving efficiency.
Paul Baker Project Director at Kier said:
Safety is about taking ownership and responsibility for our own safe behaviours and those we work with, and also caring and watching out for one another.
We want to build a culture where people feel compelled to speak up about safety and hazards through leadership and commitment to stop accidents, as all accidents are preventable
Over the next five years Highways England plans to invest over £11 billion to modernise and maintain the network.
Roadworks under construction along the Kent Corridor in addition to the work taking place upgrading the M20 to a smart motorway between junctions 3 and 5 and work to improve the resilience of the M20 to cross channel disruption include creating a new junction on the M20 near Ashford.
In addition, plans have been published to upgrade two junctions on the A2 and a new flyover for the M2 at junction 5 near Stockbury.
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