Target August 2023 Edition

The schools summer barbeque period is a very busy time for our Catering teams in the schools across Tayside in the run up to the end of term.

Find out more on pages 4-9 and see if puts you in the mood of having a bbq this weekend!

Grapevine

Hello everyone,

...and welcome back to everyone lucky enough to enjoy a break away from work over the summer, it is great to have you back. As we are the biggest catering organisation, and largest civil engineering construction organisation in Tayside, the people of Tayside need you – we have got a lot to do!

Thanks again to our Communications Team for pulling together such a lively and diverse TARGET, packed with so many fantastic articles.

I was especially pleased to read about the positive and heartfelt praise from schools and pupils for our catering teams' hard work in providing summer barbeques, just before the school term finished With 1 in 5 primary children at risk of obesity in Scotland, and 2/3 of adults classed as overweight, it is so important to encourage young people away from less healthy options and choose our healthy, safe, nutritious, and delicious school meals – so they will grow up healthy and take positive eating habits into their later life The hard work of our catering teams is paying off as we have an increase of over 10% of pupils choosing our meals service, compared to this time last year.

Your health, safety and wellbeing are vitally important, and I was delighted to be part of the audience, alongside over 300 Construction colleagues, for the three excellent SHAD (Safety and Health Awareness Day) events - which are also featured in this edition I learned so much about keeping safe in the demanding work that our Construction colleagues carry out – as well as how we can also look after our health and wellbeing. The organising team for the SHAD events did a marvellous job in putting on these events for all of us

So please stay safe and well – and look out for each other, and I hope you enjoy this edition of Target.

What are What are Confucius Confucius

Classroom Hubs Classroom Hubs

Confucius

Classrooms are hubs radiating out across a local authority, based in schools and serving the local community.

The hub concept promotes joint planning of cultural activities, sharing ideas and resources to stimulate the learning and teaching of Chinese language and culture.

Amy Wilson, Regional Account Manager, Remploy added:

According to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), head injuries account for over 25% of fatal injuries in the UK workplace, and a further 3,500 non-fatal head injuries are reported each year.

JoeCronin-DundeeStoreperson

Hard Hat Awareness Week was introduced to drive awareness of preventing head injuries through ensuring head protection is worn and cared for correctly on construction sites.

The most common causes of head injuries are because of slips, trips and falls, which account for 30% of all incidents, followed by working at height and impact from falling objects.

Despite all this information a recent national survey revealed that nearly half of construction workers ‘rarely’ or ‘don’t ever’ wear a hard hat, while less than one in five wear a hard hat most of the time.

Hard Hat Awareness Week ran from 12 – 16 June and we were pleased to be involved to highlight the importance surrounding hard hats to our employees and help improve these statistics through a safety alert, toolbox talk, site visits and daily tweets

By Susie Newton, Training and Development Adviser

Elaine Mollison & Chris BrownSafety and Training Team

Dave Ferrier - Angus Operations

By Susie Newton, Training and Development Adviser

Tayside Contracts embarked on our biggest Safety and Health Awareness Day (SHAD) over three consecutive days, from 16 to 18 May in our Dundee, Forfar and Ruthvenfield Depots.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a delayed SHAD and unlike previous events this one was planned and delivered from our three main depots across Tayside and was attended by 300 Construction Division colleagues.

The three-day events linked into the National Campaign 'Mental Health Awareness Week 2023' which ran from 15 to 21 May

The SHAD planning team worked extremely hard to find and secure speakers who would giv am had the provide IT ne was ref each of h

The SHAD planning team extended their thanks to the following presenters and organisations

Garry Livie (Trainer/Assessor, Tayside Contracts) demonstrated the use of the Cable Avoidance Tool (CAT) and the Signal Generator (Genny). Garry stressed the importance of using both the CAT and Genny and cited a personal and real-life example of a near miss with a HV cable when he was digging without using the CAT. He reminded everyone that they are now an essential piece of kit on all our sites.

Zurich

Gordon Small and Gary McIsaac delivered a pragmatic presentation on Lifting Operations and Equipment, explaining why it which is important that equipment should be regularly checked by users, and what to do if it is damaged or faults This session gave everyone an understanding of working equipment and the part they have to play in making sure it is safe to use

Duncan Sangster, Physiotherapist and Karen Kirkpatrick, Occupational Health Advisors delivered an informative presentation around our Occupational Health support within Tayside Contracts and how they can assist prevent physical and mental ill health that may occur as a result of our operations and activities.

PAM Group

Logistics UK

Duncan McCormack delivered a presentation around Driver Pre Checks and Domestic Drivers Regulations. He stressed the need all our drivers fully understand the that apply to them when driving the importance prestart driver che

The events were also opened and closed off by Keith McNamara (Managing Director) and Dougie McKay (Head of Operations).

On behalf of Tayside Contracts, the Safety and Training Team would like to thank all our guest presenters who delivered what we believe was a fantastic event for our Construction employees

Keep your eyes peeled for future Health and Safety campaigns and initiatives being ran within Tayside Contracts

By Susie Newton, Training and Development Adviser

Safety Observation Safety Observation Safety Observation Online Reporting Online Reporting Online Reporting

The Safety and Training Team have been busy developing online incident reporting, with accident forms, near miss incidents and cable strikes now all reported online and sent directly to the team with instant notification. Included in this improved reporting system is the new online safety observation reporting form. Currently this is being rolled out in Construction for a short trial period and is expected to be made available to the whole organisation very shortly……so watch this space.

The purpose of the safety observation online reporting it to give all employees the opportunity to send any safety observations directly to the Safety and Training Team through their own mobile devices. This information will help in preventing future incidents and injuries by pro-actively resolving hazards and engaging and empowering the workforce in addressing H&S issues and improving safety performance.

The team continue to ask that you raise any issues directly with your line manager in the first instance. Otherwise, the form can be used to advise the Safety and Training Team of unaddressedHealth and Safety hazards in your workplace. The form can also be used if you wish to share any safety suggestions or positive Health and Safety observations

By Susie Newton, Training and Development Adviser

NEW EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AVAILABLE!

Our employee benefits platform gives you access to:

Lifestyle Savings which gives you access to a range of discounts across UK major retailers including supermarkets, technology, fashion, travel and much more!

NEW EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AVAILABLE!

Our employee benefits platform gives you access to:

A Cycle to Work Scheme which allows you (providing you meet the eligibility criteria) to enter into a 12 month salary sacrifice agreement to exchange part of your gross salary (ie pre-tax) in exchange to hire a bike and associated safety equipment/accessories up to the value of £1000.00 over a 12 month period providing you use the bike and safety equipment/accessories mainly for commuting to work (mainly means more than 50% of its usage).

NEW EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AVAILABLE!

Our employee benefits platform gives you access to:

eme which allows you (providing you enter into a 12 month agreement to tronics product up to a maximum of ry from your net pay. The scheme is oduct every 12 months.

ss a range of personal, ng tools to help you be a er you!

NEW EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AVAILABLE!

Our employee benefits platform gives you access to:

An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) where receive confidential, impartial assistance to help you of need including a 24/7, 365 days helpline!

NEW EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AVAILABLE!

If you are considering using the new Cycle to Work Scheme and Home and Electronics Scheme, please read the full scheme and associated terms and conditions to check your eligibility prior to submitting an order

Tayside Contracts is committed to protecting the privacy of the people whose personal information we hold and to meeting our data protection obligations Visit Privacy Notice for the Employee Benefits Platform Privacy Notice.

We are very grateful for the feedback posted on Facebook from Councillor Heather Anderson on 10th August Councillor Anderson stated:

‘Just before the summer holidays, I went along to Our Lady's and Rosebank dinner hall to sample the Tayside Cuisine school lunches. There were photos of me and Gary Conway of Tayside Contracts enjoying the lentil soup, the steak pie and veg, the vegetable korma and the pineapple and watermelon for dessert.

Nothing was left on our plates, but I've not shared the photos because the hall was full of children who were doing the same thing!

This week Cllr Steven Rome and I had an extensive tour of the Tayside Cuisine kitchens. We were impressed by the sheer scale of the operation and the acute focus on ensuring that all food intolerances and allergies are nutritionally met, with separate kitchen areas, staff and equipment being used to ensure there is no cross contamination.

Some 25,000 portions of food are prepared every day 1,000 of those will be for community meals and around 200 each day are specific recipes to meet dietary requirements.

The photo is me with the food waste bin from the whole sitepretty impressive that there's such a tiny amount of food waste from an operation of this scale. Thanks to Ibukun Strachan and Jane Deasley for their time on the tour and answering all our questions’

Dundee Bairns – Volunteering

In the second week of the school holidays, Angie Dodds and her son Ben volunteered with Dundee Bairns to help deliver lots of healthy and nutritious packed lunches across Dundee, which were all freshly made each day by the Coldside Campus catering team. Angie and Ben’s deliveries included Ancrum Primary School, Dryburgh Athletic (Kids football training group), Balgay Park and Kingspark Special School

Angie added it was a good way of getting her teenager out of bed and away from devices for a couple of hours and was glad he was there to help lift the heavy boxes in and out of the car!

YOUNG PERSON'S GUARANTEE YOUNG PERSON'S GUARANTEE YOUNG PERSON'S GUARANTEE DEVELOPING THE YOUNG WORKFORCE DEVELOPING THE YOUNG WORKFORCE DEVELOPING THE YOUNG WORKFORCE

Tayside Contracts are delighted to report that for the second year we have been recognised as an approved official Young Person’s Guarantee Employer.

As you may be aware the Young Person’s Guarantee (YPG) aims to connect every 16 –24-year-old in Scotland to an opportunity This could be a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training or volunteering It could also be an enterprise opportunity. We have been working hard with colleagues in our Councils` Education Services, Employability teams, and also local further education providers, to make these links to support young people.

This recognition captures the essence of our 'Communities' commitment set out in our Business Plan and demonstrates the commitment we have made to our local young people in Tayside and the progress made to date including attending school Career Events, facilitating work placements, and increasing our apprenticeships

We are pleased to report that in year 1 we achieved the following results

Developed new promotion material for use at career events/issue out to schools.

Attendance at 8 school career events throughout Tayside.

Worked closely with 6 schools in the Tayside Area (2 per area) and delivered school talks, prepared for 2023/24 classrooms activities such as CV/Interview skills

Our Nutrition and Menu Teams delivered key talks in schools around food and nutrition, as well as promoting the school meals service.

Supported 18 work placements throughout the organisation.

Promoted the “Apprenticeship Week” in March 2023

Supported our Modern Apprenticeships around Construction/Transport Division and supported one Graduate Apprenticeship in IST

We recognise the most important people in all of this are the young people, and hopefully we can make a positive difference to their lives, as well as building our workforce for the future

By Keith McNamara, Managing Director

TheDundeeRoadsMaintenance Partnership(DRMP)recentlycompleted anewexcitinganduniqueprojectfor ourpartnersDundeeCityCouncil.

The project, which was a community led design, was implemented to transform the area into a more valuable and attractive space.

The Stobswell Forum community group worked in partnership with Sustrans Scotland, Dundee City Council and Scottish Water to design permanent enhancements on five routes off Albert Street (Arthurstone Terrace, Balmore Street, Craigie Street, Langlands Street and Park Avenue), with Tayside Contracts engaged to install the agreed solution The team effort means there is now better signage and wayfinding links to benefit those living, working and travelling through the area.

The project, included a diverse range of work types ranging from carriageway resurfacing, construction of new speed table, footway reconstruction, removal of old and installation of new street lighting, construction of pocket park with rain gardens and seated areas, along with smaller rain gardens tying into existing drainage

Michael Thomson & Raymond Leitch of the DRMP were responsible for leading on the delivery of the onsite civils works throughout the duration of the project, while the DRMP’s Peter Lindsay and Barrie Downie co-ordinated all specialist lining elements of the project.

By John Curran, Dundee Road Maintenace Partnership Manager

One Construction - Collaborative Working Across Partnerships

The Dundee Roads Maintenance Partnership (DRMP) recently assisted the Perth Roads Maintenance Partnership (PRMP) in delivering a two phase, three week long, major resurfacing scheme on the A93 near Lair Bridge, Glenshee. The schemes, which were in two locations (MacThomas and Glen Kirlie), required early contractor involvement due to the technicalities of work involved and the need for the work to be undertaken during the night to ensure that tourists and commuters were minimally affected by the works.

The works, which had an extensive diversion that was approximately 3 hours in duration, featured a combination of overlay and inlay resurfacing works to varying depths (in a combination of asphaltic concrete and stone mastic asphalt) due to existing site drainage restriction Traffic management to allow the works to be carried out safely was erected and taken down daily to accommodate the working hours of 8pm to 6am and to ensure the public had access during the day, this resulted in a strict working window each evening, with no room for delays

To ensure work was delivered within the demanding timescale, Tayside Contracts supply chain was utilised with specialist Traffic Management being delivered by Contraflow Ltd, with lining and road studding works completed by WJ Scotland upon completion of each phase of the resurfacing.

One Construction - Collaborative Working Across Partnerships

By engaging with the client (Perth & Kinross Council) well in advance of the scheme commencing, the DRMP were able to identify potential risks pre-start and were able to organise for a statutory undertaker (British Telecoms) to attend site under the DRMP’s closure to undertake repairs on two items of defective apparatus on specific dates avoiding delays in the works programme and ultimately delays to end users of the A93.

Nearly 2,500t of coated material was laid across three weeks with Tayside Contracts own quarry at Collace supplying the majority of the coated material across the first two weeks of the schemes.

I personally took the opportunity to visit the project delivery team led by Graeme Allan (Project Manager, DRMP) and Rory Keen (Chargehand Roadwork, DRMP) on the final week of the nightshift I had received many positive comments regarding the delivery of the project and wanted to take the opportunity to pass these on whilst the works were ongoing.

One Construction - Collaborative Working Across Partnerships

The works were of a very high standard which was no mean feat given that they were undertaken with limited light available, overhead power lines throughout and of course large swarms of midges which certainly added to the challenge!

This project is a great example the benefits that Partnership and cross boundary working can deliver. Given the PRMP’s extensive workload, the DRMP were asked about the possibility of accommodating these works within their own annual programme

Without hesitation, the DRMP agreed and there was no shortage of volunteers who wanted to assist with the delivery of this nightshift

Once again, this shows the collaborative benefits of Tayside Contracts business model to deliver cross boundary works

Graeme, Rory and the site team should take full credit for delivering a high-quality scheme which will benefit the area for years to come.

By John Curran, Dundee Road Maintenace Partnership Manager

Area 1 Pony Club

'I just wanted to pass on our grateful thanks again for the fabulous packed lunches you supplied on Sunday The two wee girls were driven around the site to help hand out the lunches to all the volunteers - they had an absolute ball and it will have given them an appreciation of the manpower involved so that they and their fellow members can enjoy weekends like this with their horses.'

Blairgowrie & Rattray Community Football Club Togs for Tots

'We are very grateful for the signage you provided us with so people can now find us.'

'We are very grateful for what we did in their car park for the Trust.'

Some of the feedback from the Community Fund recipients.

Friockheim Park Community Volunteers

'We are very grateful to Tayside Contracts Community Fund for providing signage for our public toilets, and mobile signs to help us pick litter safely - this is a big help to our volunteers working for the local community.'

Some of the feedback from the Community Fund recipients.

Murton Farm

All in association with

Alison, the manager of the charity on site said she was delighted with the work being done - all at no cost to them.

As you can see from the previous pages, the Community Fund has served Tayside well so far, and these are just a hand full of the goods and services we have provided for free. We have provided hot meals, packed lunches, filled potholes, line painting on car parks, provided and erected signage, and cleaned buildings.

The Community Fund reopens on 1st September till 31st October and is open to charities and voluntary organisations and constituted groups. We can provide our goods and services up to a maximum of £3,000, so why not help us spread the word and let everyone know about this fund that could help charities and similar organisations in a big way.

You can find out more information on our Community Fund webpage. There is a guidance document which is helpful in finding out what is available and covered by the C i d