Prestigious award for HSE employee

Date:

8 March 2010

Release No:

123:2010

A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) employee, Rhaynukaa Soni has been named Female Professional of the Year, at the Political and Public Life Asian Voice Awards Ceremony.

Rhaynukaa was presented with the prestigious award by Britain's main Asian newspaper, Asian Voice for her work with HSE's Construction Division's London outreach project.

Rhaynukaa Soni receives her award. Pictured left to right CB Patel (editor/owner of Asian Voice), Cllr Mimi Harker (Cllr for Amersham), Rhaynukaa Soni (HSE Outreach Team)

The outreach project was set up by HSE after research proved that migrant construction workers were particularly vulnerable to health and safety risks due to language barriers and different perceptions of risk.

The award reflects the impact that the outreach project is having on the Asian community and Rhaynukaa's central personal role in driving the messages through.

Rhaynukaa joined HSE in May 2009 and her key role in the outreach project is targeting construction workers with an Indian background to raise awareness of health and safety, and inform them of their basic rights as well as their employers' safety responsibilities.

Rhaynukaa said "I'm thrilled to receive this award. The work that the outreach team is doing is so important in ensuring the health and safety of migrant workers.

"The workers we visit often have no knowledge of HSE or of their basic rights. We want to make sure that they know who we are and how we can help and protect them using existing law and make them aware that they have just as many rights to a healthy and safe working environment as indigenous workers."

The construction sector has one of the highest rates of fatalities and major injuries of all industries in Britain.

Philip White, HSE's Chief Inspector of Construction said: "This is a real triumph for Rhaynukaa and for HSE. The work that Rhaynukaa and the outreach team are doing is really making a difference to health and safety in the construction sector.

"The outreach team was set up as to help us target health and safety information at some of the more vulnerable workers in construction and allow us to get our messages across much more effectively. Reducing the risks faced by the most vulnerable enables all construction workers to work in safer conditions and we hope will minimise potentially dangerous incidents on site."

Labour MP for Ealing North Stephen Pound attended a recent mela (community gathering) organised by HSE and offered his support for the campaign. He said:" I can't congratulate Rhaynukaa and HSE too strongly as they are doing precisely what a responsible organisation should and bringing the solution to the vulnerable instead of expecting construction workers to make their way to HSE.

"To be able to provide information in three community languages as well as English is a brilliant example of best practice and one that immensely impressed all of those at the Mela and myself in particular. We really shouldn't be suffering the amount of deaths and injuries that we are in the construction trade; they cause such pain and misery. The work of Rhaynukaa Soni and the construction division will go a long way towards making such incidents a thing of the past. She has my admiration and my congratulations."

Notes to editors

1. Research indicates that there has been a large influx of migrant workers onto construction sites in London in recent years and despite only 8% of the national construction workforce being migrant workers, 40% of London's construction workforce is from overseas. About 60% of the migrant construction workforce is based in London.
2. Indian migrant construction workers account for 8% of the total number of migrant construction workers in the UK.
3. The London outreach project is also targeting construction workers from Poland and Romania.
4. For more health and safety information for migrant workers visit: http://www.hse.gov.uk/migrantworkers/index.htm

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