A team of students from Sligo Institute of Technology has won the Health and Safety Authority’s first national competition, aimed at undergraduate teams from construction-related degree programmes in third level institutions. At the final held in Dublin’s Ashling hotel on Thursday 25th March, six short-listed teams battled it out to win the first prize of €3,000. A second team from IT Sligo was also on the short list and received a certificate of commendation and €500. The other teams were from University of Limerick, Galway Institute of Technology and Carlow Institute of Technology.
The competition was won by IT Sligo’s ‘Team A’ made up of the following members:
Elaine Regan, Interior Architecture
Noel McLoughlin, Occupational Safety and Health
Janice Folliard, Interior Architecture
Sile Stewart, Interior Architecture
Paul Prunty, Quantity Surveying
IT Sligo’s ‘Team D’ were also short-listed and made up of the following members:
Justin McDermott, Occupational Safety and Health
Emer Concannon, Occupational Safety and Health
Koey Chang, Interior Architecture
Michelle Fahy, Interior Architecture
Grainne Kivlehan, Interior Architecture
The lecturing staff involved were:
Mary Hannon (Occupational Safety and Health),
Gavin Clinch and Bernie Donohoe (Interior Architecture)
The aim of the competition was to provide an environment where undergraduate students can collaborate and work together to enhance, develop and embed their knowledge and understanding of health and safety in construction. Students from different discplines worked together to take on the role of a team commissioned to design and build a student services building on the fictional ‘JP O’Leary Business College’ campus. Various challenges had to be addressed including examining the impact of design on after-care maintenance, site-specific risk assessments and preparing traffic management plans.
Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority, Martin O’Halloran said: “We were delighted to see such a strong interest in the competition from undergraduates across different construction-related disciplines. Our aim with this competition is to prepare future construction professionals, by giving them an opportunity to work together to find solutions to the kind of challenges that they will come across every day in the workplace.”
Chairman of the Authority’s Third Level Initiative Group, Mr. Lloyd Scott said, “Encouraging teams from different disciplines in construction-related third level programmes to collaborate on active learning projects like this, reaps real benefits for the students. It helps them to learn about health and safety and risk management in a very hands-on way where they can apply theoretical knowledge and principles.”
Teams were provided with an information pack consisting of the design for the project, site history, site description and outline building specification. Mechanical and electrical services were outlined with suggested options for locating plant.
The judging panel was made up of the following members:
Paraig Earley (Construction Policy Inspector, HSA), Nevan Mulrooney (Society of Chartered Surveyors), Mike Keyes (Third Level Initiative Group, HSA) and Tony Sheridan (Health and Safety Manager, John Sisk and Son Ltd).
IT Sligo ‘Team A’ with lecturing staff and members of the HSA
(From L to R) Gavin Clinch, Mary Hannon, Jim Lyons , Chairman of the Health and Safety Authority,
Elaine Regan, Noel McLoughlin, Janice Folliard, Sile Stewart, Martin O’Halloran, Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority
IT Sligo ‘Team D’ with members of the HSA
(From L to R) Michelle Fahy, Emer Concannon, Jim Lyons , Chairman of the Health and Safety Authority, Justin McDermott, Martin O’Halloran, Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority, Grainne Kivlehan, Koey Chang
For further information contact:
Mary Hannon (Lecturer)
Occupational Safety & Health
School of Science
Tel: 071 9155355
Email: hannon.mary@nullitsligo.ie
Gavin Clinch (Lecturer)
Interior Architecture
School of Engineering
Tel: 071 9155257
Email: clinch.gavin@nullitsligo.ie