Kilwex Ltd’s commitment to promoting the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing across all projects was duly recognised in the form of two prestigious 2025 NISO Awards.
On Friday night, October 10th, at the 34th staging of the annual NISO / NISG Annual Occupational Health & Safety Awards in Killarney, Kilwex Ltd. proudly received two major awards – ‘Best New Entry – Medium Size Organisation’ and a ‘Higher Distinction Award’.
Humbly accepted at a gala dinner in the Great Southern Hotel, these All-Ireland safety awards are a huge testament to the hard work, passion and commitment of Kilwex’s incredible staff — particularly their site teams and EHS department, who commit to fully to safety as a priority every single day, creating a positive safety culture everywhere they work.
“We’re incredibly proud to have received both these awards from The National Irish Safety Organisation. This recognition is testament to the hard work and commitment of our entire team to maintaining the highest safety standards across all our projects. Safety is at the heart of everything we do, and this award reflects our dedication to continuously raising the bar,” commented Darragh O’Connell, Managing Director, Kilwex Ltd.
Established in 1996, Kilwex is an industry-leading Kildare-based company that operates for both public and private sector clients as main contractor and project supervisor construction stage (PSCS) in the civil engineering and building sectors.
The company has earned a strong reputation over the years for the quality of its work and enjoys repeat business with its clients and civil engineering and building consultancy partners. These clients include Dublin Airport Authority, Dublin Port Company, Local Authorities, ESB Networks, University College Dublin, Irish Rail, Irish Prison Service, and many private clients.
Kilwex specialises in airport pavement construction and services, deep drainage works, urban road realignment / reconstructions, hard and soft landscaping projects and work in live electricity stations, with these works primarily conducted in the Leinster area.
Management and project staff are fully committed to safe and high-quality project delivery and Kilwex has a proven track record working safely in live sites / campuses where maintenance of client operations and interfacing with the public / client stakeholders is a major feature. From airports to port infrastructure, educational campuses to fuel storage facilities, utilities, urban parks, greenways and everything in between, Kilwex delivers to the highest standards of industry excellence every time.
Safety is at the very core of who Kilwex are and how they work. Their Commit to Safety philosophy means they prioritise the health, safety and wellbeing of their team, subcontractors, clients and the communities they serve. This is not just part of their job; it’s part of their life. As such, they expect everyone to commit to work safely to allow us all to enjoy healthy and happy lives – today and for generations to come.
Kilwex’s Commit to Safety approach empowers every individual on their sites to engage positively on safety and to look out for the safety of themselves and their colleagues. This approach fosters a culture where safety awareness and mutual care are embedded into every task undertaken.
Their dedication to high safety standards is backed by a robust health and safety management system that is certified to the Safe-T-Cert accreditation standard. Kilwex continuously enhance their safety processes to ensure that each project not only meets but exceeds regulatory and industry safety requirements.
By meticulously planning each phase of their projects, conducting thorough risk assessments, and continuously monitoring safety performance, Kilwex remains committed to delivering projects safely and efficiently, their goal being not just to complete projects safely but to achieve safety excellence in everything they do.
Their countless accreditations and impeccable health and safety track record clearly demonstrate the strongest commitment to this high standard of care, underscoring Kilwex’s position as a trusted and responsible partner in civil engineering and construction.
As SHEQ Manager at Kilwex, Warren Donnelly was delighted that Kilwex triumphed on the double at the 2025 All-Ireland Safety Awards:
“Kilwex is a long-established company, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2026 and has a strong client base including Dublin Airport, Dublin Port, various fuel depots and electricity generating companies – all clients who demand the highest levels of Health & Safety,” he states.
“Even though we have the most robust safety systems in place as well as all the accreditations and certifications, we never went forward for the NISO Awards before, so we were blown away by how much we surpassed our expectations at the first attempt. We hadn’t anticipated hitting these highlights, and it’s a very strong validation of our commitment to the highest levels of health, safety and wellbeing.
“When I went back and reviewed our achievement in terms of where we sit in achieving a Higher Distinction, a lot of the other companies at this level are Tier One contractors who have been entering the awards for some time, so to be named in this company and recognised at this level is really fantastic.”
The NISO Awards are a validation of Kilwex’s exceptional safety culture, which permeates every facet of the company. “They really are,” Warren confirms. “At Kilwex, we have always been incredibly safety-aware and the safety systems we have on the ground are not something you do overnight, but a culture we have built over the years.”
To get to where they are now – a beacon of Health & Safety in the workplace – Kilwex have invested thoroughly and rigorously in learning and development. On average, each employee was given four full days’ training last year – a massive investment to guarantee clients an unrivalled level of safety which is reflected in low incident rates and high accident prevention stats.
At the time of writing, Kilwex were coming towards the end of a major 18-month project to deliver a new 400kV substation in County Laois – a project with many high-risk work elements where there was no lost time accidents reported thanks to the Health & Safety buy-in of all parties onsite.
“We’re also starting another large project in Dublin Port, which will be public-facing on to East Wall Road / Tom Clarke Bridge, adjacent to the 3 Arena, and we are on the ground in Dublin Airport, where we have moved safely from project to project for over 20 years – another very demanding environment where you have to bring your ‘A’ game every day.”
Kilwex employs an in-house team of 75, including four in the Health & Safety department, and all staff members are instrumental in their wonderful achievements in safety. “We also have a large number of regular subcontractors, they know the standards we demand and embrace our Health & Safety culture. We have strong working relationship with many of these going back over 20 years – these partnerships have helped us deliver projects safely time and time again.”
“Some of our own staff have been with us since Day One, when somebody joins the Kilwex team they tend to stay here because it really is a great place to work – and a safe place to work where staff are valued.”
Kilwex Ltd.,
Pacelli House,
Pacelli Road,
Naas,
County Kildare.
Tel: 045-889 479
Fax: 045-889 662
Email: [email protected]
Web: kilwex.ie
This article was published in Building Ireland Magazine, February 2026, Vol 12 No 2
