Category: News

Sean Mahoney one of our Groundworkers has been awarded our last Employee Outstanding Achievement Award for 2021.

Project Manager Ed Rushe and Site Manager John Maxwell nominated Sean saying “Sean is a good hard working lad nice & well mannered with very good time keeping, shows willing to work, as well as being well liked on site. Well done Sean!

O’Brien Values Skills and Dedication of our Site Teams

In recognition of this, we have for many years run the ‘Employee Outstanding Achievement Award’. The award goes to a member of one of our site teams each quarter to coincide with our quarterly newsletter.

Project Managers nominate the operative that they think has gone above and beyond for the previous quarter and the candidate with the most recommendations wins the award. In recognition of their outstanding contribution, the winner gets a £500 cheque and a certificate in recognition of their hard work.

O’Brien Contractors are proud to be working with Sandwell Council on this important and sensitive project.

Sandwell Council Press Release:

Name of New Cemetery Revealed as Work Begins 100 years After First Burial at Neighbouring Cemetery

Work has begun to create a brand-new cemetery and improve open space in Rowley Regis.

O’Brien Groundworker Jack Johnston Wins Outstanding Employee Award and a Cheque for £500!

Our colleague Jack has been awarded the for the third quarter of 2021.

Jack was presented with a certificate and will receive a cheque for £500 as a reward for his hard work.

Project Manager Guy Baker commented:

“It is a pleasure to work with Jack.  We are currently working together on the Cottam Ash power station project.  The project involves carrying out Earthworks that are modelled by the Topcon GPS machine control system.  Jack is a very good plant operator and is highly competent in using the GPS system.

Jack is hard working and his work ethic is second to none.  Well done Jack.”

O’Brien Values Skills and Dedication of our Site Teams

In recognition of this, we have for many years run the ‘Employee Outstanding Achievement Award’. The award goes to a member of one of our site teams each quarter to coincide with our quarterly newsletter.

Project Managers nominate the operative that they think has gone above and beyond for the previous quarter and the candidate with the most recommendations wins the award. In recognition of their outstanding contribution, the winner gets a £500 cheque and a certificate in recognition of their hard work.

O’Brien Contractors has been awarded the RoSPA Gold Medal Award, which is our 8th consecutive RoSPA Gold Award and our 4th Gold Medal, so we are over the moon!

The internationally-renowned RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, are the longest-running industry awards scheme in the UK and has been awarded to us in recognition of our practices and achievements, in helping staff and clients and stakeholders get home safely at the end of the working day.

The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organisations around the world, recognises achievement in health and safety  management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

Managing Director, Peter O’Brien, said:

“We are delighted to have been recognised with a RoSPA Gold Medal Award again for the 4th year runnning.  As a company we are dedicated to making sure that all of our sites are safe both for everyone working on them and for members of the public, especially in a year dominated by COVID-19, requiring additional safety procedures on site. Receiving this award again is testament to how hard we all work to achieve that.”

O’Brien Contractors is committed to providing safe and healthy working environments for all of our staff.  O’Brien  provides ongoing training, information, supervision and advice so that all of our employees are competent to work safely and are committed to providing the resources necessary to support this provision.

Our industry-leading standards have also been recognised with many other occupational health and safety accreditations ranging from ISO45001 to CHAS, Achilles Building Confidence and RISQS.

Expert Teams for Laser Levelling Sub-Base Preparation

Our expert teams are fully self-sufficient operating as a one stop shop, trimming, compacting and tidying as the works progress. They have a proven track record with major industrial floor installers throughout the UK and have completed millions of square meters of trimming works.

Machine Control Systems with State of the Art Technology

Machine Control Systems utilises state of the art technology based on GNSS, Total Stations and Lasers to control the machine in relation to a 3D Design or a Finished Floor Level.

As a company, we have been at the forefront of Machine Control since its early adoption in the UK and have assisted the major manufacturers Trimble and Topcon with developing their systems for market and continue to do so to this day. Realising the potential and investing into such systems early has left us at the leading edge of this technology here in the UK.

These systems make any site operate not only more efficiently and effectively, but also improve safety by removing on the ground operative / machine interfaces.

Whether carrying out bulk earthworks operations, constructing a sports pitch or final trimming prior to tarmac placement or industrial floor concrete, our systems are tried and tested to achieve the tightest tolerances possible.

If high output, high tolerance trimming, with minimal engineering input is your goal then look no further than one of our systems.

Our systems can be applied to almost any application:

• Bulk Earthworks Cut to Fill
• Highways Construction
• External Works
• Foundation Excavation
• Industrial Warehouses
• Sports Pitches
• Landscaping

Laser (2D)

High precision lasers automatically control the machines hydraulics in relation to a level or grade. Trimming flat planes to a grade or set level high accuracy +/- 5mm.

 Total Station (3D)

A motorised Total Station tracks the machine. Trimming intricate 3D designs to +/- 10mm.

 Compact Leveller (2D)

JCB mounted Spreader Box controlled via a high precision laser. Similar to the Laser System but with the added advantage of operating in reverse leaving no track marks. Trimming single size stone as a final blinding layer, leaving no track marks high accuracy +/- 5mm.

GNSS (3D)

The Machine is guided by satellites in 3D. 1^st Stage Earthworks with Tolerances of +/- 20mm.

Our expert teams are fully self-sufficient operating as a one stop shop, trimming, compacting and tidying as the works progress. They have a proven track record with major industrial floor installers throughout the UK and have completed millions of square meters of trimming works.

If you wish to know more give one of our team a call to discuss your exact requirements and to select the system best suited to your needs.

 Key Benefits:

• Reduce Material Wastage
• Reduce Fuel, energy and C02 emissions
• Improve Safety by removing people from hazardous work areas
• Reduce reliance on traditional engineers
• Deliver projects within specification on time and budget
• Automate bulk earthworks (Cut to Fill)
• Efficient and accurate final trimming
• Materials cost saving

O’Brien have welcomed our new engineer Lewis onto the team.

Lewis has started his first week here at O’Brien and is looking forward to integrating into the team and gaining further experience out on our project sites.

We look forward to seeing Lewis progress within the company and gain the additional experience he wants to develop his skills and career.

O’Brien value the skills and expertise of all of our staff, where there are no limits or boundaries in terms of progression within the company and we encourage our staff to take a proactive approach to their job, and put themselves forward for training that will develop their skills and advance their career.​

Lewis gave us some background on how where he trained before joining the company:

“I completed an 18 month civil engineering level 3 and NVQ with Learning Skills Partnership and then progressed on to a 2 and a half year course to complete my HNC in site engineering at the Leeds College of Building.  I completed my training a long side full time work, allowing me to transfer the knowledge from the classroom straight to site.

I’m looking forward to working in a fast paced environment at O’Brien’s, hopefully get onto some large projects as I look to develop my engineering skills further. I felt that I’d get this exposure at O’Brien’s making it the right move for myself.”

Welcome on board Lewis!

“We are committed to continued investment in our people, plant and technology to ensure we play our part in reducing embodied carbon across all of our projects”.

Vicki O’Brien

With over fifty years of history delivering civil engineering and construction across all sectors of the Built Environment, O’Brien Contractors have always shown a commitment to their Corporate Social Responsibility and the Environment.

Vicki O’Brien is a third generation O’Brien and has worked in the family business for nearly twelve years. As a Net Zero Champion, Vicki will be responsible for setting net zero carbon targets and defining the businesses strategy to de-carbonise future operations.

Vicki commented “Protecting our Environment and climate change represents some of the greatest challenges we face today in Construction. At O’Brien Contractors Limited, we understand the behavioural change needed across our Industry.

We are committed to continued investment in our people, plant and technology to ensure we play our part in reducing embodied carbon across all of our projects”. Vicki continued, “I am excited to Champion our approach to Net Zero Carbon and establish a Strategy with meaningful targets and clear policies which will help us manage and report on our progress”.

Well we have had a great BBQ in our beautiful yard today and the weather was very very kind!

As part of our charity drive to raise £15k for O’Brien Charitable Trust, we had one of our new monthly theme days (always involves food), and this month it was a BBQ.  Lovely local produce from the farm in the form of burgers, sausages, kebabs and chops with a selection of drinks.  All those attending gave a minimum £10 donation and we were also joined by some of our lovely suppliers.

Chef for the day was our fabulous QS Neels Saayman who is legendry on the Grill (he loves it)!

Many thanks to our suppliers who came today, it was great to see you all and we hope you enjoyed yourselves!  Thank you for supporting the charity, including those that couldn’t make it today, supporting us as you always do, raising funds for the O’Brien Trust charity.

Take a look at our charity page to see what we have been up to!

https://trust.obriencontractors.co.uk/friday-charity-bbq-in-the-yard-success/

O’Brien have completed our upgrade to the CHAS Premium Plus standard, assuring our clients and prospective clients that we have the knowledge, skills experience and training needed to manage a wide range of risks on our projects.

Many clients are now looking to companies, to have the higher levels of accreditation providing reassurance that businesses are run safely and efficiently.  As a responsible and HSEQ conscious company we felt therefore it was essential that we upgraded our accreditation level accordingly.

As well as our CHAS upgrade we have also passed our Achilles Building Confidence external audit this month.

O’Brien are proud to maintain several accreditations and memberships which proves that our company meets or exceeds minimum quality standards.

Accreditations include:

• CHAS
• Achilles Building Confidence
• Constructionline
• FIH (International Federation of Hockey) Certified Field Builder
• ISO9001
• ISO14001
• ISO45001

Memberships

• SAPCA
• British Safety Council
• RoSPA
• RoSPA Gold Award (7 consecutive years)
• Cyber Essentials
• Concrete Society
• Construction Plant Hire Association

Following on from works carried out earlier in 2020, O’Brien were engaged to carry out enabling works for a new depot on a portion of the site which was situated adjacent to the A49 in Ludlow.

With the site sitting alongside an existing live business and retail park along with Ludlow’s main park and ride facility it was imperative that the works were carried out in a way that did not disrupt the normal operations of our neighbours.

Works carried out on site included cut and fill earthworks to development plateaus, foul and surface water drainage, incoming service provision along with full construction of a new access road to provide permanent and construction access for the new depot. The earthworks presented a significant challenge with works carried out during January and February to meet the clients programme. These months are usually too wet for earthworks but using our extensive experience we provided a soil stabilisation solution that allowed works to be completed as required and the import of aggregates significantly reduced which provided cost and environmental benefits to the scheme.

The works commenced in December 2020 on a 16 week programme of works and have recently been completed.

O’Brien’s previous completed works on the Ludlow site earlier in 2020 were enabling works for a new housing development,  including drainage and attenuation ponds. See full details of previous works carried out:  O’Brien Development Site at Ludlow Progressing Well! – O’Brien Contractors (obriencontractors.co.uk)