From innovators and early-adopters of cutting-edge Health & Safety technology to first-time winners in the All-Ireland Occupational Safety Awards – Vision Contracting have now seen their commitment to setting the highest standards recognised by their peers.
The burgeoning construction services company was honoured as the Best New Entry – Small Sized Organisation at the recent NISO/NISG All-Ireland Occupational Safety Awards in Killarney.
Vision Contracting have built an impressive safety record over the past three years, with no Lost Time Incidents (LTIs) in 2018 and having recently clocked-up over One Million Hours worked LTI free.
But it was the overall company philosophy and the systems put in place to achieve these sector-leading results which particularly impressed the judges.
Vision Contracting became the first building construction company in Ireland to adopt the iAuditor Platform from SafetyCulture, a tablet-based system that allows for 360-degree data capture and analysis in the field, allowing Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) officers to rapidly identify, log and tackle issues.
Audits are transmitted as soon as they are complete, allowing for far faster close-out of any action items raised. Comprehensive Audit Templates, which include multiple photographs, can be generated and shared. With this highly portable, robust tablet system, potential risks are rapidly identified and analysed, solutions can be quickly worked out and the lessons learned are logged as Vision’s EHS team work to constantly raise their knowledge and standards.
The Australian-developed system is now recognised as an industry leader with over 30 million inspections conducted worldwide using the iAuditor app.
Early adoption of this cutting-edge technology has resulted in almost all Vision Contracting projects achieving their internal KPI (Key Performance Indicator) targets in each audit cycle.
And the recent award, in their first year as contenders at the bench-mark NISO/NISG All-Ireland Occupational Safety Awards, was a very welcome accolade for the Vision Contracting team.
“It’s wonderful recognition for us and our commitment to health and safety,” says Environmental Health & Safety Manager Glen Cowley, who was presented with the prestigious award by Minister of State for Trade, Employment and Business, Pat Breen TD.
“We are delighted and really proud to receive this award, which recognises all the fantastic work delivered by the Vision team and the support of our key Customers across the business every working day. The recognition is also very important to our ongoing business development efforts as we continue to grow the company activities across all sectors – but particularly in the multi-national industrial and pharma areas,” says Glen.
Glen says the entry criteria for the annual awards were exacting – as they had expected from the two bodies charged with fostering the highest standards for health and safety across multiple sectors on the island of Ireland.
“We made our submission to NISO (National Irish Safety Organisation) in April based on our performance delivery, projects and initiatives in 2017. The information had to be concise, relevant and verifiable. We were notified coming up to the awards ceremony that our submission had been successful, but we didn’t find out until the night itself what category we had won in. There were a lot of new entrants and we were thrilled with the outcome.”
Vision Contracting has grown rapidly since being set up – in a deeply challenging environment – in 2011. The construction services company (with offices in Cork and Dublin) has a turnover of approximately €40milion in 2018 and has quickly established itself as a leading builder in several niche markets.
Vision has an ever-expanding list of blue-chip clients, including Apple, BioMarin, MSD, Eli Lilly, Patron Capital Partners and Moorepark Technology Ltd (MTL).
The senior management team – Managing Director Niall O’Meara, Mick Allen (Construction Director), Aidan Drummond (Pharma & Industrial Director) and Colm Fehily (Commercial Director) – have worked together for almost two decades, gaining an impressively wide range of technical, commercial and business-related construction experience.
As a close-knit team, they have been directly involved in the delivery of a diverse range of construction projects throughout Ireland and the UK, ranging in values from €500,000 to €100 million.
Vision Contracting has grown steadily to employ over 60 staff at its offices in Cork and Dublin and earned a reputation for delivering on complex projects through innovation, flexibility and the early-adoption of new methods and technology.
The core approach – for every team-member and department – is hands-on and customer focused. Vision Contracting takes communicating with clients very seriously and offers them the accessibility and support of a local company with national experience.
It is owner-driven. And as a relatively young company in a highly competitive sector where track-records and reputation really count, committed to building enduring customer relationships.
With a strong record of working in the pharmaceutical, commercial and retail sectors, Vision Contracting has delivered numerous projects successfully and sets itself apart from its peers by prioritising customer focus, a commitment to solutions-based working and by its collaborative and partnering approach.
As well as this absolute dedication to customer service, value-for-money and operational excellence – Vision Contracting is particularly proud of its employees and staff, whose dedication and unrelenting commitment has been instrumental in the growth and success of the business.
Vision Contracting also operates a comprehensive set of best practice Management Systems for consistent excellence and continuous improvement. Its accreditations include: OHSAS 18001, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. It is a member of CIRI and places a strong emphasis on Lean Design and Construction.
The Company has a proven background in pre-construction, value engineering, project and construction management, and provides complete delivery solutions. It has built an enduring reputation for a collaborative business approach and for working hand-in-hand with clients and their design teams to deliver the best solutions.
Offering main contracting, management contracting, construction partnering, CSA (Civil, Structural and Architectural) work package contracting and design and build contracting, Vision Contracting believes in doing business in a way that is fair and transparent. Its core business values and principles are founded on trust, honesty, integrity, a cooperative and ‘can-do’ attitude as well as dedication to construction excellence. These are fundamentals of its business practice.
As Vision Contracting grows and looks to the future with its ever-increasing standards of safety, quality, efficiency and sustainability of construction practices, it is committed to working in partnership with its Customers and their professional teams to achieve optimal construction solutions and to deliver best value. This is a commitment shared by its employees, one that differentiates Vision and will see it continue to develop and enhance strong long-term relationships with its customers. Repeat business represents the cornerstone of its business priorities.
The company remains focused on delivering a diverse range of construction services and solutions across many sectors, including retail and commercial, pharmaceutical and healthcare, residential, civic, industrial, hotel and leisure, education, fit-out along with civil and utilities.
Vision Contracting has undertaken projects for the following blue-chip clients: Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Apple, Bausch & Lomb, Patron Capital Partners, Cork Institute of Technology (CIT), Hines Real Estate Ireland, Moorepark Technology Ltd (MTL), Alcon, Pfizer, Sanofi Genzyme, O’Callaghan Properties, Sanmina, Irish International Trading Corporation (IITC), Dalata Hotel Group, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Gilead Sciences Ltd, Eli Lilly, Northside Shopping Centre, Mahon Point Shopping Centre, MSD, Port of Cork, Heineken, BioMarin, GE Energy, Hovione, and Pepsico.
Clients such as these have come to value the Vision Contracting commitment to customer-focus, innovation, delivery and best value. Now the Company can add their All Ireland award for Health & Safety excellence to what is fast becoming a sector-leading reputation.
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, December 2018, Vol 4 No 11
