Page 2 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Nine

WILLIE’S WELCOME
Paul Webster
Health & Safety Adviser
Paul Webster joined W M Donald in November as its health and safety adviser. Paul started his career in the operations side of the rail industry, where he first became interested health and safety. Paul subsequently switched to the offshore sector and worked for subsea companies. Paul is working towards a Level-6 Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety, equivalent to degree standard but with greater focus on the practical aspects of safety management:
‘Fundamental to what I do is keeping health and safety simple and relevant to the W M Donald teams working on site. I want to challenge the perception that safety is ‘... somebody else’s responsibility.
In my short time with W M Donald I have been impressed with its commitment to tackling, for example, RCS, safe working at height, and the dangers of working with plant and machinery.’
Paul lives in Insch, north of Aberdeen, with his wife, Lynda, and their two children Daniel and Chelsea. Paul’s private passions are hill walking, motorbikes and dogs. The family has four dogs of its own – three boxers and a British bulldog. Paul also volunteers with a local boxer, of the four-legged variety, welfare charity.
October 2nd was a very proud day for everyone at W M Donald. His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, Duke of Rothesay opened our new offices at Netherley. It has been a challenging, exciting and rewarding journey from one second-hand bulldozer in 1977 to today’s team of 145. I would like to pay special thanks to my wife, Elaine, who has been central to the success of W M Donald over the past 42 years.
With new projects in Montrose (Sunnyside) and Dundee (Ballumbie Rise), and drainage and utilities activity picking up, 2020 will start on a positive note. However, as for everyone in construction, the shadow of Brexit looms large. I worry that the politicians are blithely unaware of the lasting damage their prevarication and posturing is causing our sector. The uncertainty is leading to a gradual month on month decline in general construction activity. It will take far longer to rebuild client confidence than it has taken for the Brexit chaos to sabotage it.
We continue to invest in technology and facilities. The new offices are primarily heated by an air source heat pump and an array of solar panels on the adjoining workshops mean we make a daily saving on our power costs. Our drainage team has a new tracked hose reel, and we have upgraded our fleet of Trimble survey equipment. We are the first construction company in Scotland, and possibly the wider UK, to take delivery of a SiteVision AR (Augmented Reality) visualisation system. We are looking to add a second suction excavator to our fleet.
As always, the health and safety of our workforce is a top priority. There is growing awareness of the dangers of RCS (Respirable Crystalline Silica), particularly when cutting precast concrete. In the New Year we will be hosting a mobile x-ray unit to enable all employees with more than 15 years’ experience in construction to have a chest x-ray. Several members of staff have also completed mental health first aid training, and we continue to look for ways to improve our effectiveness in this area.
I would like to welcome Derek Dunbar as our new Commercial Director. Derek will be working closely with myself, the estimating, QS and finance teams to ensure the future
financial health of the business.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish our workforce, clients, subcontractors and supply chain a merry Christmas with family and friends. Best wishes also for a
safe, happy and healthy 2020.
2
WILLIE