Construction BUSINESS

From the moment Mace Technology (Ireland) began work on Facebook’s new European Data Centre in Clonee, safety has been a top priority.

According to a report on the CIF website, the project is the largest Mace have undertaken in Ireland and has now achieved 2.75 million man-hours without a reportable accident. This is an achievement, which Mace Project Director Ray Craig attributes to the company’s all-encompassing safety culture.

“Since the commencement of the project in March 2016, Mace have driven the safety culture on site, striving to be the best in class and the safest project in Ireland,” Ray Craig explained. “The project has achieved 2.75million man-hours without a reportable accident; a remarkable achievement and a record for the Irish construction industry. This achievement is not based on luck, this is as a result of hard work, dedication, planning, analysing and collating key trends on site. Our success can be attributed to the high standards we have set and the proactive communication that our Mace team practice on site.”

Mace is striving to embed this ‘safety culture’ by empowering their workforce to act when they see unsafe practices and to also engage and reward the good practice, which is evident on site.

“Bringing on line our initiatives and launching our campaigns breathes new life into the project. Our ‘real life’ visual standards of ‘What Goods Looks Like’ are a constant reminder of our best practice approach,” Ray Craig said. “Our association with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has grown since our return to Ireland and we continually utilise the CIF and other bodies to keep alive and improve our already high standards.”

“To achieve 2.75 million man hours without a reportable accident on a project of this scale, is a feat that our entire team and supply chain should be very proud of,” Ray Craig added.

The current value for the Clonee Facebook project is approaching €500m.There is a high likelihood of the next phase proceeding, which will push the total value of the project to over €700m.

The Mace Technology (Ireland) Limited team of over 70 professionals at Clonee is led by Ray Craig and Peter Hill.

On the strength of the Mace performance at Clonee, Facebook have awarded Mace the Odense Data Center project in Denmark. “Mace offer a flexible, client-focused approach based on our wealth of experience across complex projects and programmes in every sector, from manufacturing and pharmaceutical to large utility corporations, education authorities and national infrastructure schemes,” Ray Craig added. “We have built up a very strong team here in Ireland and are now looking at other opportunities within the Irish Construction market.”