Wexford-based building contractor Cleary Doyle has presented the first prize in its new "Safety Awards to Employees" scheme posthumously to Mr Tommy Donovan, site manager on the £12 million extension to Carlow Institute of Technology.
Mr Donovan, who died of a heart attack last December, was due to collect his award at the firm's annual Christmas party, but instead the ceremony was deferred in his honour. His son, Mark, collected a certificate on behalf of his father from joint managing directors Mr Eugene Cleary and Mr John Doyle. The certificate was for maintaining the highest standards of safety within the company. The late Mr Donovan was part of the Cleary Doyle team at CIT which won the firm's supreme safety premier award. It will bear his name from now on.
The Wexford-based firm is committed to maintaining the highest possible safety standards at all times, said safety officer Mr Jim Whitmore. It reflects initiatives within the industry to reduce the number of fatalities and serious accidents on building sites. "We work closely with the Health and Safety Authority, with which relations are very good in general," he said. The awards are to be presented annually to give recognition and encouragement to employees who achieve exceptional levels of safety in the workplace.
The second prize went to the firm's construction team working on the new cardiac unit at St James's Hospital, Dublin, which was completed last year. And in third place, the winner for the "best-improved site" was the firm's team at the Boots Chemist project in Baggot Street, Dublin.
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