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Category Archives: HSQE

World Engineering Day

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development is celebrated on 4th March every year as a UNESCO international day of celebration of engineers and engineering. 

The day offers an opportunity to highlight engineers and engineering’s achievements in our modern world and improve public understanding of how engineering and technology are central to modern life and for sustainable development.  

The celebration of World Engineering Day is also about promoting engineering as a career and how it is an opportunity to change the world for better. 

“Engineers aren’t very good at articulating the value of engineering and the impact that engineers and engineering have on society. This is a wonderful opportunity to talk about these aspects and engage the community in the work of engineerssaid Dr. Marlene Kanga, the Past President of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. 

World Engineering Day 2021

This year, the World Engineering Day (WED2021), with the theme “Engineering for A Healthy Planet – Celebrating the UNESCO Engineering Report”, will focus on celebrating the launch of the 2nd UNESCO Engineering Report “Engineering for Sustainable Development: Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals”. 

The report, officially published on 4th March, highlights the crucial role of engineering in delivering the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, shows how inclusive and gender equitable engineering profession can bring about new perspectives and thus respond to the shortage of engineers, showcases of engineering innovations for implementation of the SDGs, analyses the progresses in and challenges in engineering education and capacity building, and summarizes the regional trends of engineering development. Finally, it gives recommendations for developing engineering for the SDGs, and calls for global cooperation with multiple stakeholders to promote development of engineering for the SDGs.   

Building a sustainable future at JCA

At JCA, we are building a positive sustainable business that contributes towards our community by creating environmental and social value, as well as contributing to the broader societies in which we work.

Energy efficiency

We are deeply involved in ensuring that sustainability is embedded in everything we do. We develop programmes to ensure our business, employees and supply chain are sustainably competent and are committed to ensure we meet and exceed legal and ethical requirements. Our teams are driven to continually improve sustainable performance through control / improvement programmes.

We believe in incorporating energy efficient technology into all our projects and can help decide what options will make a building sustainable, both environmentally and economically. We design and build with sustainability in mind, and create award-winning projects that are not only sustainable but also enhance the wellbeing of the people who work in them.

Technical talent

Engineering is an exciting, varied and rewarding career however there is a shortage of younger people applying for engineering courses and engineering jobs in the UK. One of the prime reasons for this is that many young people are unsure what engineering is and what engineers do. The growing skills gap in the engineering industry is a worry. 

In the February 2020 issue of the Facilities Management Journal, JCA discussed how we found, trained and motivated our staff to ensure continuation of services in the years to come. Offering an apprenticeship is only one of the ways to help fill the skills gaps, upskill and revitalise the workforce to ensure the business is future proof and future ready. Another issue is the continuing gender disparity in engineering. At JCA, we are working hard at supporting women in varied roles, including engineering, throughout the business. 

 


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World Mental Health Day

This year’s World Mental Health Day, on 10 October, comes at a time when our everyday lives have changed considerably as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

The past few months have brought many challenges: prolonged working from home, going to work with the worry of catching the virus, adapting to schooling children from home with little contact from teachers and friends; and for people with mental health conditions, experiencing even greater social isolation than before. It is expected that the need for mental health and psychosocial support will increase significantly in the coming months and years.  

This is why the goal of this year’s World Mental Health Day campaign, run by the World Health Organisation, is increased investment in mental health. 

Mental health and wellbeing at JCA 

JCA values the health and wellbeing of all our employees and recognises that balancing everyday life together with the requirements of work and home can create pressure for everyone. We aim to establish a positive health and wellbeing culture that includes awareness, understanding, effective processes and positive behaviour by employees at all levels. 

We fully recognise that mental and physical health and wellbeing are equally important and that work can have a potential impact on both. Therefore, we have an employee wellbeing policy that sets out and manages our obligations to maintain the mental health and wellbeing of our staff. It covers JCA’s commitment to employee health, the responsibilities of managers and others for maintaining psychological health, health promotion initiatives, communicating and training on health issues, the range of support available for the maintenance of mental health, and organisational commitment to handling individual issues. 

 

Trained to help 

We take a “we’re in this together” approach – everyone has their part to play in ensuring that support can be accessed as needed, with dedicated support roles available. We have mental aid first aiders who are trained in mental health awareness and can support mental ill health and offer sign posted support. 

Talking about mental health at work can be daunting: people may worry about how they will be treated and how their colleagues will react. We therefore invited JCA employees across the business to volunteer to become Health and Wellbeing Champions. Our Champions help implement and support JCA’s wellbeing and mental health programme through raising awareness of wellbeing, promoting healthy lifestyles and positive mental health. Every Champion attended an internationally recognised training course ‘Mental Health Champions’, accredited by Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). 

Health and Wellbeing Champions can support workplace culture and make a difference to the lives of work colleagues, working with the organisation to make mental health a normal topic of conversation, dispelling myths and providing another avenue for people to seek support. 

A number of our senior managers and line managers have also attended ‘Line Manager Mental Health Awareness Training’ run by Mind, with further sessions to be arranged later this year.  This training aims to provide line managers with a better understanding of mental health difficulties and the confidence to  manage mental health in the workplace, which promotes wellbeing and understanding across the teams and reduces perceived stigma when discussing mental health issues. 

 

External programmes 

As part of our commitment to health and wellbeing of our staff, we have implemented an Employee Assistance Programme, delivered by an independent external organisation, which provides confidential support and guidance relating to personal issues via telephone and online advice, support and counselling services. The services include help with home and work life, physical and emotional health, wellbeing resources, self-help programmes, webinars and other. 

RoSPA Health at Work 

Our teams work hard on continually developing and implementing processes and procedures for the JCA Health and Wellbeing programme by creating innovative and exciting activities for all staff, balanced and educational training and providing continued support to all staff members who may feel they need it. 

Our efforts do not go unnoticed. In 2019, we were awarded a major award – the RoSPA Health at Work Award. This major trophy is presented to businesses demonstrating the best management of Health at Work and a true and obvious commitment to the welfare of all the staff.  The submission for this extremely prestigious award consisted of JCA having to evidence a number of health and safety areas, including ‘Wellness at work’ (particularly mental health), attendance management and staff rehabilitation. 

Mind UK 

This year, we sealed our commitment to raising awareness on mental health and wellbeing by choosing the wonderful Mind UK as our national charity for 2020. Mind UK provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. The organisation campaigns to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding of the issues that those with mental illnesses deal with. 

 

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World FM Day 2020 – Celebrating our environment

World FM Day, initiated by Global FM, is an international celebration of the importance of the FM profession. Its aim is to raise the profile of facilities management around the world and those involved in shaping and influencing the health, safety, productivity and well-being of people utilising the built environment. It highlights how facilities management plays an integral role in enabling positive customer, client and employee experience in all sectors, whether that’s residential, leisure, entertainment, retail, healthcare or any other. It also facilitates global knowledge sharing to promote the FM profession, and allows facilities management professionals to reflect on their achievements over the past year and celebrate each other’s successes.

As a leading M&E maintenance provider, we fully understand the importance of facilities management professionals and the role they play in often complex environments, ensuring that end users receive world class service. We are proud to be part of this by providing seamless and client-tailored M&E maintenance services.

We take time to understand each of our client’s unique requirements and tailor maintenance packages to suit each business’s individual needs. Our aim is to create strong relationships with the client’s FM teams based on mutual trust and understanding, as well as to provide first class customer experience.

World FM Day is a fantastic opportunity to discuss and share experiences and knowledge across the industry, to raise the awareness, promote the FM profession and celebrate the successes of the industry. This year’s theme is ‘Celebrating our environment’ which acknowledges our industry’s respect for the environment and our continuing focus on sustainability.

At JCA, we ensure sustainability is embedded in everything we do. We develop programmes to ensure our business, employees and supply chain are sustainably competent and are committed to ensure we meet and exceed legal and ethical requirements. Out teams are driven to continually improve sustainable performance through control / improvement programmes.

We believe in incorporating energy efficient technology into all our projects and can help decide what options will make a building sustainable, both environmentally and economically.

To find out more about JCA’s services, head over to Our services.

To get involved in the World FM Celebrations, join the conversation on Twitter and share your sustainable ideas using hashtag #WorldFMDay2020

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