Case Studies

Kate has a fantastic job working for Mace, one of the fastest growing and high profile international consultancy and construction companies. Over the past 25 years Mace has created and managed some of the world’s most outstanding buildings and infrastructure. London’s The Shard and Heron Tower, New York’s 4 World Trade Centre and the new Doha International Airport in Qatar are just a handful of the projects Mace has worked on.

Kate Backler is a Project Manager who works on multi million pound projects for Mace. Due to the size of the projects Kate is involved with; she is usually part of a team reporting into a Project Director. Each team member is allocated an aspect of the overall project, such as the flooring, which they manage from planning through to handover. Basically, Kate gets things done.

Health and safety is an important aspect of any construction project and Kate estimates that about 50% of what she does as a project manager is health and safety related. Given this level of involvement it made sense to Kate to take a health and safety qualification. After consulting with colleagues she decided that a NEBOSH qualification was the best option for her.

As she already held two qualifications at a similar level to the Diploma, namely a History degree and a Graduate Diploma in Construction Management, she decided to go straight for the NEBOSH National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety. Kate said: “The NEBOSH Diploma is the one I had to work the hardest for and it’s also the one I am most proud to have achieved, because it really did challenge me.”

Now that Kate has successfully completed the NEBOSH National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety it’s anticipated that her health and safety responsibilities will increase. She has always been involved in reviewing and signing off risk assessments and method statements for elements of work that fall under her control. On her next project it’s expected that she will be part of the safety leadership team working alongside the project director and senior health and safety manager make strategic decisions.

Good knowledge of CDM Regulations is important in project management. In addition, responsibility for ensuring the safety of contractors often extends to the project manager. Kate has always taken these responsibilities seriously and even before she decided to take a NEBOSH qualification, the team would oftenask her to take the lead on safety matters.

As well as the advantages she felt it would bring both herself and her employers in her project management role, she also believed having the qualification would offer her an alternative should she need it.

Within her own personal portfolio of achievements is an extension to the British Museum. The design was by an architectural team called Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, responsible for such landmarks as the Pompidou Centre, Paris, Lloyd’s of London and the Millennium Dome.

“We dug an 18 metre deep hole and built a three story basement the other side of the wall where the Elgin Marbles are kept,” Kate told us. “So it was quite a tricky job.”