Stay safe, stay away from AWPR works this Winter

The contractor for the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project, Aberdeen Roads Limited, is reminding young people across the north east to avoid its construction site and ‘Stay Safe’ during the Christmas holidays.

Construction machinery, incomplete structures, unstable land, heavy goods vehicles in transit and open excavations are just some of the hazards that young people could encounter on the AWPR/B-T construction site.

Malcolm Findlay, General Manager for Aberdeen Roads Limited, said:

“Young people can be easily tempted to visit a construction site, especially if weather conditions make the trip to site more appealing, but they can be dangerous places for anyone who has not taken part in a safety briefing. All our visitors take part in a safety briefing before they go onto site and are escorted the entire time to ensure their safety.

“Not even our own workers can enter our site unless they attend their daily safety briefings, along with other on-going training such as toolbox talks and safety stand-down days. We also expect our workers to hold a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card.

“It is a huge responsibility for each and every one of us to understand the health and safety risks out on the site so it should be entirely understandable why we want to stop young people from entering the site who have no knowledge of the safe areas or unsafe areas.

“Since construction began, we’ve spoken to more than 9,800 pupils from across the north east about safety, hammering home the importance of staying away from our site. We have also worked with local school pupils to create our own ‘Stay Safe’ leaflet. However, we would like to ask parents, carers and teachers to have a chat with young people in their care and remind them that construction sites can be very dangerous and the best way to stay safe is to stay away. Very often, all it takes is just a few words of wisdom to prevent young people from making a mistake they may live to regret.”

The majority of the AWPR/B-T construction site will close down over the festive period, from Friday 22 December 2017 until Monday 8 January 2018. However, some maintenance works will have to continue throughout the holidays and Aberdeen Roads Limited’s security company will remain on site.