Discipline of Civil Engineering @ NUI Galway

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NUI Galway wins HSA Third Level ‘Safety in Design’ national competition

Congratulations to Kevin Carney, Grant Deeney and Shane McHale, students from National University of Ireland Galway, who have won a Health and Safety Authority run competition aimed at undergraduate teams from construction related degree programmes in third level institutions. Kevin is a third year student in Project & Construction Management, while both Grant and Shane are third year students in Civil Engineering at NUIG.

L-R: Paula Gough HSA, Dr. Anne Drummond UCD Chairperson of TLIG, Tony Sheridan (back) SISK TLIG Judge, Kevin Carney NUIG, Grant Deeney NUIG, Mike Keys TLIG Judge, Inspector Padraig Earley Judge HSA. Missing from photo is Shane McHale NUIG

At the final held in Dublin’s Ashling Hotel on Friday 25th March, six short-listed teams battled it out to win the first prize of €3,000. Sligo Institute of Technology won the runners-up prize of €1,000 and all finalists received certificates of commendation. Other teams which made the final include students from UCC, Galway Mayo Institute of Technology and Carlow IT.

The aim of the competition is 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 disciplines worked together to take on the role of giving expert advice on remedial repairs, traffic management and long-term maintenance of a bridge that suffered structural damage as result of a bridge strike. 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.

Programme Manager with the Health and Safety Authority, Paula Gough, said, “This is the second year that we have run this competition and we are really pleased with the standard of entries. I would like to congratulate the winners NUI Galway and thank everyone else who took part. This competition gives students a chance to use what they have learned, apply it to real life situations and gain valuable experience and knowledge in how to plan for and deal with safety issues that arise in the construction industry.”

Chairperson of the Authority’s Third Level Initiative Group, Dr. Anne Drummond, said, “In the world of work, collaboration and working with colleagues from other disciplines is essential to problem solving as well as being the safest approach. This competition has clearly illustrated to both students and judges that engagement and teamwork with their colleagues is a rewarding experience for students, and one that can deliver a safe and effective product.”

The judging panel was made up of the following members: Paraig Earley (Construction Policy Inspector, HSA), Mike Keyes (Aegis Safety Management) and Tony Sheridan (Health and Safety Manager, John Sisk and Son Ltd

Civil Engineering
National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.
Phone: +353 (0)91 524411 Ext: 2170; Fax: +353 (0) 91 494507
E-mail: Brid Flaherty
This page was last updated Thursday, March 31, 2011