BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) has recorded over six million hours without lost time injury thanks to an inclusive working environment that takes into account all of its employees' work culture, said a company representative.
Health and Safety Manager Ali Abdullah said that the company has achieved a total of 6.1 million hours without lost time injury as of March this year.
"We have just received British International Safety Awards 2019 for this (Temburong bridge) project," said Ali during a recent interview with Xinhua.
The Temburong bridge, slated for completion in November, is a 30-km megastructure that will connect the Temburong District with the Brunei-Muara District.
It aims to reduce travelling time between the two districts from two hours to just 30 minutes.
Upon completion, it will become the longest bridge in Southeast Asia.
CSCEC is overseeing the construction of the Temburong viaduct of the bridge which spans 11.8-km across Brunei's uninhabited forests and swamps.
Ali said ensuring the safety of all their workers in the construction of the megastructure is no easy feat.
"This is a daunting task. I recognized the need to bridge cultures to ensure everyone's safety very early on in this project," he said.
Ali said he had to consider the different races and culture of their workforce to formulate a health and safety system that meets international standards.
"I had to implement a system that is applicable to everyone and it should not hinder any progress of the construction. I cannot just place emphasis on safety and ignore everything else," he said.
"We trained and retrained all our stakeholders, especially those on the ground, whenever we encountered a problem or mistake. We made sure the same issues would not happen again," he said.
"I think this is the core of the implementation of our health and safety system that has led to us to achieve 6.1 million hours without lost time injury on this project," he said.
