Consistently setting the standards for others to follow and elevating the critical art of scaffolding to new heights, KDK Scaffolding were awarded a Distinction at the prestigious 2020 NISO / NISG Occupational Safety Awards. Building Ireland touched base with co-founder / director Robert Kelly to get an update on Ireland’s largest privately-owned scaffolding contractor, who regularly work alongside a who’s who of Tier One main contractors.
Recognising the outstanding Health & Safety achievements of businesses on the island of Ireland, the annual NISO / NISG All-Ireland Occupational Safety Awards are highly valued and regarded among health and safety professionals throughout Ireland, north and south. Regular winners at these awards, which demonstrate the positive and proactive culture of safety management in organisations, KDK Scaffolding were awarded a Distinction for the second successive year when the 2020 winners were announced via a virtual awards ceremony in January.
“As far as awards go, you can’t really do any better than the Occupational Safety Awards so we were honoured to gain a Distinction for the second successive year,” KDK director Robert Kelly reflects. “It’s a vote of confidence in the strong Health & Safety systems we implement. Safety is our No.1 concern and is always at the forefront of our minds. You have to have the right systems in place and work to the highest safety standards – when you are selected for a NISO award you take a lot of confidence from that.”
Health & Safety is paramount in the construction industry and the need for robust, proactive and professional systems is perhaps nowhere more evident than in scaffolding, where personnel need to be safeguarded from the potential risks posed by working at heights. To this end, KDK Scaffolding (whose motto is ‘Work Smarter, Better, Safer’) boast an impeccable safety track record, promoting and implementing the high standards of Health & Safety systems.
Indeed, Health & Safety is fundamental to everything KDK Scaffolding does. The company rigorously adheres to the standards of the SafeTCert safety management systems and has the distinction of being accredited with an ‘A’ graded SafeTCert. Their commitment to Health and Safety is reflected in the fact that they were the first company in Ireland to operate scaffold inspection software, which produces all Health & Safety compliance documents.
Ultimately it all comes down to supplying and erecting high quality scaffolding and boards that provide safe access for workers – both their own in-house personnel and those who will work on site. “We have an excellent team going to the sites and we have a policy here that if we can’t do it safely then we won’t do it at all,” Robert continues.
Established by Robert and Matt Kelly in 1997, KDK Scaffolding is at the forefront of delivering scaffolding services across all industry sectors, including pharmaceutical, industrial, commercial, residential, power generation, manufacturing and processing, healthcare and education. Their collective years of experience guarantee a professional and complete service to all projects. They invariably forge strong working partnerships with clients and always provide state of the art solutions (combining the best materials with industry-leading personnel) and unrivalled service regardless of project size.
KDK Scaffolding prides itself on its experienced and highly-skilled employees, who undergo continuous development programs to remain at the forefront of delivering cutting edge scaffolding services. Due to the high quality of the solutions provided, KDK Scaffolding enjoys excellent working relationships with all of Ireland’s leading building contractors, including John Sisk & Son, John Paul Construction, Collen Construction, PJ Hegarty, JJ Rhatigan, Bam, Cosgrave Developments, Glenveagh Construction, GEM Construction and many more besides.
For main contractor John Paul Construction, KDK had the distinction of being scaffolding subcontractor on one of Dublin’s tallest buildings – the 33-metre high Miesian Plaza. They have worked on other landmark sites all across the capital including the 3 Arena, Trinity College Dublin, Bewley’s, St Vincent’s Hospital, the Beaumont Hospital, Charlemont Street Redevelopment, Clancy Quay Phase 3, Wilton Terrace, St James’ Church, as well as a veritable host of projects nationwide.
While there are a number of major projects in the pipeline at present, unfortunately, due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions, KDK Scaffolding effectively had to down tools during Q1 2021. “We’re really hoping to get back on site sooner rather than later at this stage,” says Robert. “We were okay during the first lockdown last year but this time we weren’t seen as an essential service.
“We have a core crew of about 35-40, which fluctuates depending on what the workload is at any given time. We’d be very anxious at this stage to get all our people back working. We know we can come up with a plan that will allow our personnel to work safely together, although it isn’t always going to be possible in our line of work to have everybody two metres apart. We have numerous projects waiting and when we get back we will put a plan in place and make sure everybody is working safely, complying with the guidelines and moving in the right direction.”
Robert believes that the construction industry has shown that it can adapt to public health requirements and would like to see the government re-open the sector in a safe manner: “It’s all about money at the end of the day and they are going to need to get the economy opened up again. Everybody has a role to play and must make sure they are all doing their part.
“Construction has stood up to be counted. When you are working with Tier One contractors, you have to maintain very high standards or else they won’t have you around anymore. We are all familiar with what it takes to work to very high standards.”
Although they are headquartered in Enniscorthy, County Wexford and provide a nationwide service, KDK predominantly work in and around the capital. “We’re well-equipped to work in Dublin at this stage and that’s where the majority of our work is,” Robert confirms.
All KDK Scaffolding equipment is not only regularly tested and fully certified but maintained in optimal condition at all times. This includes implementing rigorous hygiene and cleanliness standards, which result in enhanced safety.
“We clean all of the scaffolding in between every job,” Robert concludes. “We invested in new machinery which removes all the dirt and the result is that all the scaffolding goes out clean and fresh and ready for use. I’m not aware of anybody else who does this before every job but the added benefit of it being so clean is that you would see if there were any signs of cracks or damage, which dirt might conceal. Again, this allows us to operate Health & Safety standards that are second to none, which is something we pride ourselves on.”
KDK Scaffolding Ltd.,
Old Dublin Road,
Enniscorthy,
County Wexford.
Tel: 053 92 38070
Fax: 053 92 38906
Email: [email protected]
Web: kdkscaffolding.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, September, Vol 7 No 9
