BSG Highly Commended

An innovative new system developed in the West of England to prevent building site workers from falling down stairwells has been applauded by the Building Safety Group (BSG), the UK’s biggest construction safety group for health, safety and environmental advice.

Custom-designed for housebuilder Cotswold Homes Ltd by Bristol-based engineering consultancy Craddys, the temporary edge protection system is now in use on all of the firm’s sites.

Guy Edge, head of construction at Cotswold Homes’ headquarters in Yate, South Gloucestershire was presented with a Highly Commended certificate and commemorative plaque in respect of the new safety system during the BSG Award Ceremony at the Williams Formula 1 factory in Wantage, Oxfordshire.

He said: ‘At Cotswold Homes the safety of our site teams is of paramount importance which is why we have created this new temporary edge protection system. It has a number of advantages compared with the expensive proprietary products available to buy off-the-shelf.

‘Adaptable for many situations, it is designed to fit around the staircase as well as the top of the stairwell. Constructed in timber, it is braced on all sides so that it is self-stabilising, a feature not available with standard products.’

The new system is now in place on Cotswold Homes’ current sites in Chippenham and Corsham and will be used in all new homes under construction on the company’s future developments across the region.

This is the second BSG accolade to be won by Cotswold Homes. In 2013 the company’s site manager Dave Beckey was presented with the BSG Health and Safety Site Manager of the Year Award for the Bristol region.