Esh Group has underlined its commitment to helping everyone who works on or visits an Esh site to return home safely at the end of the day by rolling out its latest safety initiative.
The business has invested in 55 defibrillators which have been installed across sites in the North East and Yorkshire throughout January as part of its Everyone Safely Home campaign.
Health, Safety, Environment and Quality Director William Stobbs, said: “We have an ongoing commitment at Esh Group to maintain our safety – built on an ethos that everybody working on one of our sites or at one of our offices, should return home safe in an evening.
“Part of our continuous improvement comes on the occupational health side too and we have had the full backing of the executive board to make a substantial investment to introduce this life-saving equipment.”
Research from the Resuscitation Council UK points to the use of defibrillators within 3-5 minutes of a cardiac arrest increasing survival rates by up to 70%. As part of the rollout campaign, Esh Group will train up all site supervisors in how the equipment is used so that any employees, subcontractors, clients or other visiting personnel can have extra reassurances should a need arise.
William expressed his own personal satisfaction at Esh getting behind the initiative, after experiencing both the positive and negative outcomes of cardiac arrest emergencies. He added: “I encountered a personal tragedy with my father-in-law when he suffered a cardiac arrest on a bus between Tebay and Blackpool. He took ill and unfortunately, despite our efforts with CPR, we weren’t able to save him.
“I then fortunately, had a better outcome when my mother-in-law collapsed in a local pub and her friends used a Community Sponsored defibrillator until the paramedics arrived. I was expecting to tell my wife that her mother had died at any moment, but when the paramedics arrived and continued use of their defibrillator, they found a slight, faint pulse and told us that the efforts with the defibrillator had saved her.
“We naturally hope that, as a business, our teams won’t need to use them, but rolling out the defibrillators will provide reassurance that there is access to immediate support in an emergency.”
Staff across Esh have welcomed this initiative, from site personnel through to senior management. Dave Eden is a project manager for the Esh-Stantec joint venture and is currently working on a scheme for Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) at Great Ayton Sewage Treatment Works. He said: “The installation of a defibrillator on site has been met positively by the team. With an ageing workforce, having this resource adds an extra layer of safety and reassurance.
“Increasing the number of properly trained individuals on site significantly enhances our ability to respond effectively in high-pressure situations and the more comprehensive our first aid capabilities, the safer our site operations will be.”
The 55 defibrillators have been installed on a five-year rolling programme with Defib Machines, who will conduct regular maintenance of the devices. Jonathan Gilbert, Managing Director of Defib Machines said: “Seeing a commitment, such as this from Esh Group, really highlights the importance of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the workplace. It was clear from the start that this programme was more than just a box ticking exercise for Esh Group.
“There is a true show of care for everyone who enters an Esh Group workplace. Our approach to AEDs, providing the full support to always have a working AED with people trained on how to use these, has resulted in us becoming the only UK AED provider to never have a device out of service. Having this reassurance and support was clearly important to Esh Group and their commitment to the highest standards has been clear throughout.”
While this latest safety initiative will focus on supporting site teams, defibrillators have also been placed at community locations across the North East and Yorkshire as part of Esh’s commitment to delivering social value. A device sits permanently at Esh’s headquarters in Bowburn – which is available for use by the public – while the company has also supported defibrillator installations at Molescroft Pavillion in Beverley, Ewbank Gardens in Stockton-on-Tees and Filey School in North Yorkshire.
We have an ongoing commitment at Esh Group to maintain our safety – built on an ethos that everybody working on one of our sites or at one of our offices, should return home safe in an evening.
“Part of our continuous improvement comes on the occupational health side too and we have had the full backing of the executive board to make a substantial investment to introduce this life-saving equipment.”