A Commitment to Efficiency and Contractor Collaboration

NSW-based Stephen Edwards Constructions’ (Stephen Edwards) commitment to efficiency and subcontractor collaboration led its recent decision to expand HammerTech to 13 of its active projects so far – beyond its initial three-month, three-project pilot.

“We want our subcontractors to come to a jobsite they enjoy being a part of. Part of this is making sure our workplace culture is open – between us, the client, our subcontractors, and so on,” says Tom Glynn, Systems & Compliance Manager at Stephen Edwards.

“Behind every safety system is a commitment to our workers. We don't want anyone going home from work injured, or not going home at all. Our care for every worker on our jobsites was the biggest driver when approaching HammerTech.”

Created by construction and technology professionals in 2013, HammerTech 's safety intelligence platform digitizes all safety and site operations processes and paperwork into one place. Connected processes provide contractors with 360-degree visibility and insights across people and projects to inform better risk and safety decision making.

“We’d rather there aren’t any issues because we have such open communication. But if there are issues, we want them ironed out efficiently. That’s one of the benefits of key benefits of using HammerTech – to have that comprehensive visibility, that single source of truth for safety on-site.”

Strengthening WHS with Comprehensive Data

With a 45-year heritage, Stephen Edwards has firmly established itself with more than $1 billion in completed projects – adopting HammerTech, the world’s leading safety software provider for construction, on 13 of its active projects so far. Today, 115 Stephen Edwards employees are using the platform, with the total number of users topping 6,578.

“There was already a good WHS culture in the business,” says Tom. “There is a lot of top-level management engagement, with directors attending monthly safety meetings to investigate compliance and other issues.

“We now have more comprehensive data points from across the business. For example, we now have a report on positive and negative observations – ranked from high to low – every month.

“These have created a dialogue, and give our directors and QHSE teams some direction on what they should be looking for – based on site observations from our staff. That dialogue has been unexpected but is most welcomed.”

Streamlined Onboarding and Implementation

Tom says efficient onboarding of people and plant, like heavy machinery and large equipment, also underpinned its decision to adopt HammerTech. “Historically these processes have been such time-drainers for our teams so the ability to strengthen that collaboration is really great.”

He adds a key part of the group’s growth strategy is to better link its subcontractors with the group’s existing processes. “As we grow, the growth of our subcontractor base is almost exponential to our direct employee headcount – so ensuring that collaboration between our people and processes is critical.”

The familiarity of HammerTech with these key stakeholders was crucial when assessing safety and site management options: “It’s much easier for our subbies to adopt a platform they’re already using with other builders – instead of us reinventing the wheel,” he says.

“There is a level of assurance that HammerTech has grown to this level of adoption in Australia – it’s shown to meet the needs of the Australian market.”

Eighty-five per cent of the largest builders in Australia use HammerTech. Globally, over three million workers trust HammerTech to safely connect and collaborate wherever they are – on projects of every shape and size.

“The support from HammerTech – particularly during the implementation phase – has been great,” adds Mr Glynn. “As the builder, we haven’t been left on our own. There was a robust framework of implementation meetings, one on ones, and so on.

“HammerTech is clearly made for builders. We’re not expected to have an IT department to create and roll out a platform for our specific needs.”

'Exponential Benefits ahead

“When you take on a platform like HammerTech, or any sort of change management, more effort upfront will reap rewards later on,” says Tom.

“We're at a stage now where workers are doing full site inductions through the platform.

“We’re focusing on building that engagement with our subcontractors – the more work they put in now, the easier it’s going to be down the track, and they’ll see exponential benefits from using the platform.”

Tom uses a recent example whereby a concrete pump had come to one of the firm’s jobsites. Because the equipment had already been inducted on another site, the team didn’t have to induct the plant again. These records could be imported via HammerTech and could be used right off the bat.

For more information, visit http://www.hammertech.com.