George and Sam were working on-site when the client asked their team to probe for voids. During the site walkover, however, George and Sam saw that the ground was subsiding where the drilling rig was due to operate. They stopped work as there was no way to reduce and control the risk to an acceptable level.
George Tuckwell Divisional Director for Geosciences and Engineering and the judge of this month’s positive intervention submissions, selected the winning entry, and said that "it is a great example of the use of authority to stop work".
During the site walkover it became apparent that the ground was subsiding
Mike Williams, Structural Soils lead for the South East, provides further details: “This positive intervention is a really good example of the positive health and safety culture in Structural Soils. When the unsafe situation became apparent, the drillers and the supervising engineer stopped work and discussed it with their respective department heads. The departments praised and backed their actions. That presented a united front to the client who was very pleased with our robust health and safety response. It also shows that all staff will be supported if they feel they need to stop work because of unsafe working conditions.”
Remember: Alan Ryder has granted all RSK staff the authorisation to stop unsafe work where they identify a perceived or real unsafe condition, act, error, omission, confusion or lack of understanding that could result in harm to people, the environment or property. It is also our Golden Safety Rule No.9. Further details on intervening can be found in Section 4 of the RSK procedure SP02 SHEQ Management Responsibilities on OSCAR.
RSK Golden Safety Rule No.9: Remember that we all have the authority to stop work
