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The European Awards for Technical Architecture Safety in Construction
The General Assembly of Spanish Technical Architecture handed over last Friday, 12th of April, their XVI edition of Technical and Safety Architecture Awards. Through this event, the Technical Architects reinforce their engagement with safety in construction works, as explained during the event by the President of the Assembly, Mr. José Antonio Otero.
The event, which was celebrated in the Paraninfo of the Palace "Magdalena", in Santander, counted with the presence of different authorities, such as the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Eduardo Torres-Dulce, who underlined that "the investment in preventing accidents is always profitable", and he also express his deep gratitude for the labor developed by the winners of this award, an award than has been offered by the Assembly for 23 years.
The President of the Cantabria Govern, Mr. Ignacio Diego, was also present, as well as the mayor of Santander, Mr. Íñigo de la Serna. Other important personalities also attended the event: the President of the National Construction confederation, Mr. Juan Lazcano, and the president of the European Association of Construction experts, Mr. Kevin Sheridan.
The award for the "Best Public Initiative", was granted to the most Innovative initiative in Safety and Health, developed by Visesa (the public developer the Basque Government). The award was collected by the Vice minister of the Basque Housing Gouvernment, Covadonga Solaguren.
Mr. Carlos María Luquin collected his Award for his Innovation and research in the "LARK auto scalable and safe cover" project. The award granted him 6.000 euros.
The jury underlined that this winning cover opens a new way to integrate prevention and safety during the execution works. It also underlines that it is adaptable to different covers or covering systems, regardless the material used for finishing. It also worth mentioning that it facilitates the development of posterior maintenance and refurbishment works, improving the safety of the team.
Mentions of Honor
There were also three mentions of Honor in the Innovation and research category:
Firstly, Ebrul Mahamud Angulo for the development of the "Electronic book of incidences", remarkable for the incorporation of the new technologies in safety management, which allow to improve the multidirectional transmission of information, improve document management and the follow up of performances and also improve the collaboration between the agents evolved.
The second "Honor" Mention, was granted to Mr. Juan Carlos Pomares Torres and Mr. Ramón Irles Más, for their work "Provisional railing resistant to impacts". It was valued the importance of research and the verification through different testing methods, and the development of a useful tool for selecting collective protections.
Lastly, an Honor Mention was granted to the Andalucian Assembly of Public Building Engineers, Technical Architects and Construction Engineers, for the boost and edition of the work "Documental Management. Coordination in matters of Safety and Health during the elaboration process of a construction work". The author of the work, Mr. Sergio Buendía Gálvez, was recognised for the deep analyze of the actions and objectives necessary to coordinate the initial phase of the project development.
The Safety Week
With the ceremony was ended a week through which Santander hosted the Construction Safety Conferences, organized by the Cantabrian Assembly of Public Building Engineers, Technical Architects and Construction Engineers.
These awards were created in 1990 as a proof of engagement of the Technical Architects with occupational health and safety and also in order to boost the implication of society in the improvement of working conditions in the construction sector.
The purpose of these awards is to distinguish between the actions that contribute to the improvement of risk prevention in construction works and diminish the accident rate. Nowadays, these awards are celebrated biannual and in each edition a different Assembly of Public Building Engineers, Technical Architects host the ceremony.