The John Gordon 2019 Safety Person of the Year Award Winner

The John Gordon Safety Person of the Year Award is designed to celebrate the individual (not a Safety Professional) who has made the greatest contribution to health and safety in their workplace.

This year the quality of entries was outstandingly high and the Award was won by Lee McCrossan.

Lee, a Site Operative working for Adman Civil Projects Ltd won because his actions influenced a client to acknowledge an unsafe condition and deliver a safer option.

Working on site during a back-filling process (23rd Aug 2018) Lee noticed that the end of the trench was to be left open and with his client stating “sure once we lock the gate, no one will be in here”. Lee advised the client that he wasn’t leaving it open, just in case someone accessed the site that night and fell into the open excavation.

He then proceeded to source timber to cover over the open trench and finished off with barriers.

Later that evening the client happened to be speaking to one of Adman’s Safety Advisors and remarked that he was very impressed that Lee was not afraid to say ‘No’ to his instructions and with his subsequent action in making the works area safe.

The judging panel were impressed by how Lee showed true leadership and professionalism in dealing with this unsafe act/instruction and how he helped redirect the Client’s safety focus.

“This is the sort of initiative we should be highlighting” said judging panel member Tom Stephenson, Head of H & S at Lakeland Dairies. He went on to say that “Lee’s caring for peoples’ safety and well-being is paramount to ensuring the prevention of harm to others”.

We encourage entries to the John Gordon Award (which is open to all) and further details on how to enter the Award can be found on our website.

Main Photo - (L - R) Donna McCullagh, Adman, Wilson Lambe, President, NI Safety Group, Lee McCrossan , Adman, Adrian McCrory, Director, Adman, Stephanie Coyle, Adman