Tag Archives: Master Builders

Awards, Safety

Ongoing Advancements in Construction Safety and Diversity 

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It is with great pride that Sarah Constructions congratulates QHSE Manager, Dena English, on winning Master Builders SA’s 2021 HiViZ Women in Construction Award, which recognises and celebrates the highest female achievers in the South Australian construction industry.

Promoting diversity and inclusion, the award reflects Master Builders SA’s mission to empower women to pursue new construction career pathways and support them in achieving their goals. Sarah Constructions is therefore delighted that one of our own outstanding employees is the recent recipient.

Celebrating Achievements in Quality, Work Health & Safety and Environmental Management (QHSE)

From choosing a career in Quality, Work Health & Safety and Environmental Management (QHSE) in 2015 to winning the 2021 Master Builders SA Award in 2021, Dena’s development has been rapid.

During that time, as Sarah Constructions grew from 74 employees to 232, Dena progressed from QHSE Coordinator to QHSE Advisor and then to QHSE Manager in 2017 taking on more responsibility and role complexity ensuring that Sarah’s high standards of quality, safety and environmental management were not compromised throughout this period of growth.

Dena rises to every challenge with her QHSE achievements including overhauling Sarah Constructions’ QHSE systems in 2018 to gain certification to new Quality, Safety and Environmental ISO standards; decreasing the company’s Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate from 12.85 to the current rate of 1.55; and designing and implementing an ISO 45001 compliant WHS Management System for Sarah Build.

Safeguarding Business Continuity During COVID-19

2020 brought new challenges in WHS management with COVID-19. Led by Dena and the QHSE team, Sarah Constructions implemented a COVID-19 Management Plan and associated processes to ensure the risks were adequately managed and business continuity was maintained.

This was implemented when Sarah had construction projects operating in Mount Gambier requiring coordination with a Victorian builder, while Victorian COVID-19 cases were at peak levels and a hard border closure was in place. The COVID-19 risk was managed diligently, with Dena and the QHSE team liaising with SAPOL and SA Health to ensure that workers travelling from Victoria were not introducing risk to the health and safety of workers on our sites.

CEO Adrian Esplin thanked staff for their flexibility and commitment throughout the pandemic. “Our ability to be agile to cover staff losses has been exemplary. A great example has been the recent OFSC audit at Concordia, where most of the site team was quarantined the day prior to the audit and QHSE Manager Dena was working remotely due to COVID; our back-up team stepped in to manage the audit and delivered a high level OFSC audit, a result that we’re proud of.”

He went on to highlight how critical WHS is, especially at this time. “The strain is being felt industry-wide. Resources are stretched and the demands on construction projects are not easing. This increases the risk of safety incidents. At Sarah, we recognise that it is vital that we maintain our focus on safety, and in particular high risk works.”

Championing Safety and Diversity in Construction

Not only does QHSE Manager Dena play an integral part in maintaining Sarah’s business continuity and the safety of Sarah staff, she is an “active and valued member” of the South Australian Construction Safety Alliance (SACSA), which champions and improves the safety of construction workers throughout SA.

Lex Hanegraaf, Chairperson of SACSA, explains that her contributions are valuable to the discipline of WHS on a state level. “Dena brings great value to the discussions as a well-respected and experienced construction QHSE professional,” he said.

Dena’s career success also places her in an excellent position to advocate for more women to choose a career in construction – a goal with which Sarah Constructions has long been aligned. Currently a mentor in the MBA Women Building Australia National Mentoring Program, Dena mentors a young woman building her career in the construction industry.

Along with Sarah Constructions Project Manager, Melisha Willington – former recipient of the NAWIC Outstanding Achievement in Construction award and HiViZ Outstanding Woman in Construction Award – these two women are paving the way for other South Australian women by demonstrating career opportunities available to them within the construction industry. Dena was recently a guest on Master Builders SA’s Building Perspective Podcast, in which she highlights the various opportunities and pathways available within the industry.

As an organisation, Sarah demonstrates with tangible action, our commitment to improving gender diversity in both our own business and in the wider construction industry. One example of this, is our Gold level sponsorship of NAWIC, the National Association of Women in Construction, a non-profit organisation that supports, promotes and celebrates women in construction and related industries.

To learn more about Sarah’s commitment to diversity or safety, contact us today.

HiVIZ Building Excellence Awards Outstanding Woman in Construction Award Winner - Melisha Willington
Awards, Careers

Building Excellence Awards and Outstanding Woman in Construction

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with Melisha Willington

The Master Builders SA Building Excellence Awards showcase and award excellence in South Australia’s building and construction industry. This year saw the introduction of a new award category – the HiViZ Outstanding Woman in Construction Award.

As a workplace committed to supporting gender equality, Sarah are incredibly proud, that our very own Project Manager, Melisha Willington was the recipient of this prestigious award.

HiViZ is a Master Builders SA program to inspire industry change by promoting equality at entry level, discovering and highlighting issues, empowering women to see new career pathways and facilitating the development of coordinated solutions.

Melisha shares her thoughts on what it means to be recognised as an industry leader through receiving this award.

What does winning the “Outstanding Woman In Construction” award mean to you?

It is fantastic to be recognised by the industry you work in. Getting to this point has definitely included some hard yards and challenges, so this makes a lot of that worthwhile. It’s something tangible to say that I’m performing in my chosen profession. I also reflect and thank every team I have worked with, as they need to be part of this recognition also. Success is not achieved alone. As this was the inaugural Hi-Viz Woman In Construction Award, it was exciting to be the first recipient and know that there is now another industry program promoting equality, change and empowering people.

Why is it important to include recognition for women at the Building Excellence Awards?

The construction industry is seen as the last frontier for women with the percentage of women sitting around 12% or so, compared to men. Research also shows that women are 40% more likely to leave the construction industry than their male counterparts, so retention is a big issue. Factors contributing to this are; excessive working hours and constant deadlines compared to other industries, with little flexibility to manage these challenges in the workplace. Women are still culturally seen as the primary care givers, so when starting a family, managing a career in construction as well as their duties as a parent can seem impossible.

At the moment it’s not quite a level playing field for women, so it is important for women to see other women recognised in the construction industry and to also see them in leadership roles. Recognition can be achieved through targeted awards such as the MBA and other industry associations. Hopefully this will show that women are valued and their challenges within the industry recognised; as well as provide some inspiration, to keep persisting, when things get tough.

I believe, that normalising women in construction is the key to shifting the cultural norms within the industry. This will only be achieved through raising the number of women in construction roles and through promotion of women within the industry.

What do you enjoy most about working in the construction industry?

I enjoy the continual challenges, as well as, learning and working with a team to achieve a common goal. I like working with different teams and people from all walks of life; working together, to see something transform, and knowing that you have been a part of creating that.

I studied design/architecture at university and this lead me into construction and eventually project management. I love the creativity of design and architecture but now love to see it in its built form. It’s a physical industry where the effort injected into a project is evident at completion, with a new building, interior fitout or community space.

How are you supported at Sarah as a women in construction?

Sarah Constructions practice what they preach in terms of diversity and gender equality in the workplace. This stems from the top in Sarah’s leadership team, filtering down through their workforce to become part of the daily culture. In my experience at Sarah, I have never felt that I didn’t have the same opportunity as the other male project managers. I have also felt that my opinion was taken into consideration and I was listened to.

Simple things that make you feel valued but not always experienced in every workplace. If I put my hand up for a challenging project that was a bit different to what I had previously delivered, they said ok go for it, instead of me feeling like I had to prove myself. I have felt overwhelmingly supported by Sarah and this has been refreshing at this time in my career. Support has come in many forms such as:

  • A senior management team that is genuine in supporting their staff in a practical sense but also in terms of their well-being.
  • Sarah are actively involved in industry programs that promote gender equality and diversity in the workplace and encourage their staff to participate and be involved in these programs.
  • Professional development through participation in a leadership program, regular opportunities to attend industry events and training opportunities.
  • Being nominated for not just one but many different industry awards.

What advice would you give to young women considering a career in construction?

It’s a challenging industry for both men and women but with challenge comes reward and a greater sense of achievement. Aim high, follow your passion, back yourself and don’t take any setbacks personally. Keep persevering and learn to draw upon the resources around you. People love to help. Find a mentor through opportunities like the MBA’s Hi-Viz program, to provide you with further support.

If you’d like to know more about working in the construction industry, click here for information about careers at Sarah Constructions.

Building Excellence Awards 2018                                                                         

Sarah is committed to delivering the best results for our clients. We apply our solutions focused approach to every single project we complete. It is with pride and acknowledgement for the efforts of our staff, that we accept recognition for delivering award winning construction.

Sarah received Building Excellence Awards for the following projects this year:

St John’s Grammar, Performing Arts Centre – Winner Excellence in Commercial / Industrial Building $2 Million – $5 Million

Monarto Zoo, Lions 360 – Winner Excellence in Civil / Engineering Constructions

University of Adelaide, Infrastructure Investment Programme – Winner Excellence in Commercial Fitout over $5 Million.

Click here for a full list of building excellence awards that Sarah Constructions has received.

News

The Year That Was – CEO Update – Adrian Esplin

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Growth and development are words that are often used loosely in our industry to describe business improvement.  At Sarah we can stand by these statements following the sustainable growth of our business over the last 3 years due to the aligned personal development of our staff.  People who know me well understand my drive to continually simplify business and life, to understand the key ingredients that brought together and managed in the right way, create success.

For me, this is all about people; having the right people aligned with our values and sharing the same goals as our business.  I take my role as CEO very seriously – most importantly the trust placed by staff in ensuring their safety, livelihood, job satisfaction and career development can be met here at Sarah.  What drives me to continually develop and grow our business is to ensure we have the right projects, culture and values to deliver this outcome.

We should all be proud of the achievements delivered to our customers over the last 3 years at Sarah.  We have doubled in size, whilst delivering more than three times the annual work revenue when compared to 2014.  We have earned a reputation for great quality, industry recognised through being awarded MBA’s Commercial Builder for 2017, whilst producing many award winning projects including two national winning projects in 2016, and again in 2017 at the MBA national awards.  However the greatest recognition is the repeat business of our customers and most importantly our staff choosing to stay and develop their careers with Sarah.

The future is bright as we continue to build great relationships with our existing and also new customers.  Our future is strong as we continue to build long lasting relationships with each other at Sarah and the many associated industries including architects, cost managers, project managers and all design disciplines.

The challenges to our business will only continue, however with sound business strategy, continuing to develop great relationships across the industry and maintaining our strong values, I’m certain our success will continue for many years to come – after all, we are only 57 years young!

Awards

MBA SA COMMERCIAL BUILDER OF THE YEAR SARAH CONSTRUCTIONS

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Congratulations to our dedicated and hardworking Sarah team as we were named Master Builders (MBA) SA Commercial Builder of the Year 2017, for the first time in our history at the recent awards evening. This would not be possible without the support of our loyal Clients, Consultants, Project and Cost Managers, Subcontractors and Suppliers.

We enjoy creating the many interesting workplaces and spaces for our Clients; we greatly value being part of their business transformation and the trust placed in us to deliver their critical infrastructure.

We truly value quality and safety, understanding the importance they play in forming a harmonious workplace during construction and later for our customers.  We see this award as not only an appreciation of the built form we deliver, but recognition of all organisations in the property cycle necessary to create industry leading infrastructure.

Joining Sarah some 3 years ago, our business has come a long way – our capability together with the development of our people has grown significantly enabling us to be part of delivering some of the most exciting and rewarding infrastructure in the South Australian Commercial market.

Well done to the Sarah team on the following awards:

 

$10m – $20m Commercial Excellence – Royal Flying Doctors Service

Commercial Excellence Fit out – Royal Flying Doctors Service

  • This landmark project is the first tenancy within the Adelaide Airports New Aeromedical Precinct and required creative solutions to ensure both the Airport and the RFDS’s expectations were met. The 12,850m2 facility was designed to bring the entire operation under one roof – enough room for six aircraft’s, another nine more on the tarmac, a 2,230m2 administration office, patient transfer areas and ambulance bays.  RFDS exists to deliver high quality care – their facility needed to demonstrate this important criteria through the quality of design and level of finish created in the built form. The level of detail delivered was extremely high, and upon completion Adelaide Airport said that this building had set a new benchmark for all future projects in and around the Aeromedical Precinct.

“When embarking on our strategic vision of developing a centre of aeromedical excellence for the benefit of our patients, consumers, staff and stakeholders, we required synergy with our innovation, leadership and experience from our build partners to achieve our design and operational intent.  Partnering with both Sarah Construction and Walter Brooke Architects enabled us to achieve this mission which has been recognised not only by winning “Building Excellence in Commercial / Industrial Construction and Fit-Out” but more importantly by the cause to action that has seen our patients and consumers benefit through the provision of an aeromedical facility that enhances our response to patient care, coupled with enriched staff satisfaction and stakeholder pride.  As the build progressed Sarah’s consciously shifted their focus from ‘construction’ to ‘development’ of the facility and our corporate partnership, taking a vested interest in ensuring that the facility would take pride of place in the aeromedical precinct of Adelaide Airport and set the benchmark standard for such operations within the aeromedical industry.  Construction may be complete, however, their dedicated interest in continuing to assist RFDS in ensuring our facility operates with innovation and their connection to our benevolent purpose remains a successful, ongoing and long-term partnership.”

Ollie Kratounis, General Manager, Business Development, Royal Flying Doctor Service Central Operations

 

$20m – $50m Commercial Excellence – Campbelltown Leisure Centre (The Arc)

  • The Arc is a key facility for The City of Campbelltown, providing a central hub for a broad range of community activates. The 10,000m2 project included the delivery of new timber stadiums with viewing areas, spacious change rooms, squash courts, café, clubrooms and a crèche. The centre also features Gym and weights rooms, aerobics & dance rooms and Aquatic areas including a sauna, relaxation & splash pad areas and a 25M X 25M lap pool with a dedicated plant room. The success of this project is greatly attributed to the collaborative approach adopted throughout the project. Sarah was proactive in converting this two stage project into one, this initiative achieved expediting the program by 8 months and provided significant cost savings to Council.

“Sarah’s offered up a large number of value add options and alternative design options to improve the project and reduce costs at the beginning and throughout the project. Given the complexity of the project, the team at Sarah’s were well experienced in working through challenges to achieve effective solutions. Strong communication was provided throughout the project to keep all parties informed, they also worked very hard to manage the relationship with surrounding residents to reduce the impacts of the project on them as much as possible.”

Kevin Lowe, General Manager Urban Planning and Leisure Services | The City of Campbelltown

 

$5m – $10m Commercial Excellence – Wilderness School

  • Sarah created progressive learning facilities for students in accordance with the campus master plan. The Wilderness projects were completed on time whilst maintain a fully functional school.  These projects included the Performing Arts Centre, Junior School, Science Facility, Memorial Hall and of course, the building named to honour the school’s founders, the “Brown’s House”.

“Sarah Constructions brought their expertise to bear in the pre-construction phase working closely with the school and the architects to ensure the best outcome.  They have been a key partner in working with the school to ensure our projects are completed in the most time efficient and cost effective way.  They understand the complexities of building within our operating school and have done so with sensitivity, flexibility and respect.”

Jane Danvers , Principal – Wilderness School