The win is in recognition of Biosite’s partnerships with Costain Skanska Joint Venture (CSJV), as part of the High Speed 2 (HS2) enabling works programme and Costain, Vinci Construction Grand Projects & Bachy Soletanche (CVB) Joint Venture for the Thames Tideway East project.

The judges explained: “Keeping a site safe and productive has never been more important, and this winning initiative does just that. We were impressed by the balance between the scale which the system managed the data, but also the personalised approach in terms of managing the individual. Often some of the incidents or challenges on site are caused by more personal issues to do with fatigue or health, so being able to track and manage that is much more powerful for both the effective site but the safety of the people who work on site. This winning technology focuses on productivity and efficiencies and is something that can benefit the wider industry and not just one part.”

The Biosite Competency Management system provides a flexible, mobile solution to help manage a highly transient workforce, particularly for linear projects with multiple sites or sites with no fixed perimeter. Data is captured at multiple points, via multiple devices, to ensure operatives have the correct skills for the job, in real time, to support safety and efficiency on site. 

For CSJV and HS2, implementation of the system delivered an unprecedented 0% non-conformances reported at audit and enabled the team to capture accurate and valuable workforce data to improve visibility, traceability and compliance. Operative data was captured at multiple points across all 21 CSJV sites, via multiple devices including tablets, mobile apps or cards. This meant that any skills gaps could be quickly identified and the system could recommend other operatives on site that had the appropriate skills to help fill those gaps, as well as identify upcoming training requirements.

Meanwhile for CVB and Thames Tideway East, adoption of the system ensured the effective management of health and safety in a challenging environment and achieved 25 per cent cost savings in PPE and small tools. The software helped manage health and safety on site by providing total visibility across the 8,000-strong workforce, including assessment of potential skills gaps, which guaranteed only trained and competent operatives were able to enter high risk areas such as shafts and confined spaces. It also enabled the effective tracking of training and the use of safety critical and high value equipment, such as oxygen escape sets for emergency evacuations.

Biosite was recognised in two top categories at this year’s CN Awards, with Commercial Director Michael Bryant also being ‘Highly Commended’ in the Rising Star category, for his efforts to help support continuous improvement in construction through digitisation and fire safety. The judges explained: “We awarded this entrant a Highly Commended because he is making a real difference to safety, while making a tremendous contribution to a growing business in this important industry sector. He has achieved some things which others don’t achieve in their entire career, and at his age we look forward to many more years of innovation and seeing where he ends up.”

Li Wang, Managing Director at Biosite, added: “We are thrilled to receive the Best Use of Technology award and would like to thank our partners at CSJV and CVB for their support and collaboration and also the judges and everyone at Construction News for this recognition.

“It’s particularly exciting that workforce management technology has been recognised, as we believe the role of the individual on site – and accurate data around this – is critical, in terms of both effective health and safety management and ensuring project progress.

“I’m also extremely proud of Mike and the commendation he received from the judges of the Rising Star category – his endeavours set the bar, both at Biosite and within our field.”