Charles West

I was responsible for professional and customer focused management of highway assets within the Preston district. Delivering all aspects of reactive and planned maintenance for both internal and external clients. Working to strict timescales i lead a team of 25 internal permanent staff and up to 15 sub-contractors depending on work load. The works undertaken by the team included installation and repair of highway assets such as tarmac, concrete, masonry works and drainage systems. It was my role to ensure the safety of employees and the public, often writing risk assessments and method statements, ensuring drawings and plans were accurate, and that all required licenses for the work were acquired prior to works start.

One of my main duties within this role was budget management, our team had a annual budget of around £2m which had to be forecasted by myself to ensure we kept within this figure.

I undertake investigations into incidents and accidents which happen at work, I ensure they are reported to health safety and quality team, complete accident report forms, gather evidence from photos and witness statements and in some cases ensure incidents are reported through RIDDOR.

I was also responsible for the development of new staff within the team whether it be in the office or on site, I was successful in ensuring the permanent employment of 2 apprentices that worked within my team,

When working at Lancashire County Council i was given the opportunity to carry out my HR license and work as a winter maintenance driver often gritting and snowploughing on the highway. I carried out this role for a number of years alongside my various other roles within the company.

My role as the assistant operations engineer was safety orientated, i would ensure that all operatives were competently trained on site keeping track of all training records and up to date policies and procedure complying with the Health and Safety at Works at 1974. I would also ensure quality of works were at a high, random site check ups both while the works were being undertaken and post completion with records of all being stored on our systems.

As well as this health and safety audits to vehicles, PPE and traffic management set ups were undertaken on a daily basis.

As part of my duties I am required to distribute work to teams, enabling time scales are met and in line with the County's standards. With the influx of both defects and drainage reports throughout the year I have adapted to a busy working schedule where I have a sound analytical and problem solving capability which has proved essential in ensuring short time scales are met to a high standard at all times.

When I took on this role, I worked independently ensuring the roll out of mobile devices for the operatives to use, I regularly assist and advise staff and operatives in the use of these tablets with online systems. As well as helping to locate defects ensuring the correct documents such as service drawings and green routes are readily available.

I was also required to give site safety talks on a regular basis, as well as site inductions when we open a new site, this can be as often as every couple of days, this enables me to communicate with operatives and sub-contractors confidently and efficiently ensuring all parties are well informed and safe when working.

This consisted of dealing with complaints and enquiries from members of the public and Councilors regarding different aspects of the highway such as potholes, drainage and vegetation issues. I dealt with all vegetation complaints within Preston. I carried out site inspections to determine if any action is required by the due to vegetation obstructing the highway or putting members of the public at risk. I would follow this up by ordering works and updating our records. This often-meant informing customers that there is no action we can take due to prioritized budgets and explaining that it is our statutory role to ensure a safe highway for all. Not all customers were accepting of this and in some cases, they would become angered towards myself on the telephone or by email. Learning to deal with difficult members of the public and Councilors has greatly improved my customer service and communication skills by actively engaging with customers and in certain situations showing empathy towards them.

My first role at the county council was within the design team using specialized software packages Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Sign Plot to assist in the design of capital works such as drainage proposals and cycle way schemes. For the drainage projects I learnt the importance of the role of Statutory Undertaker relating to highway works. My role within the team also included providing monthly updates on staff costs of larger schemes which improved my confidence of using IT software such as Microsoft Excel and my mathematic skills.

Following my time in the design team I then moved onto the highways operation to expand my knowledge within all aspects of Civil Engineering. For 12 months I worked closely with a Foreman gaining an understanding of the role he undertakes daily. When working on larger schemes, I was often asked to measure out sites and calculate the correct quantities of materials required. I was also tasked with writing up reports on the progress of the scheme so management could be informed of the stage we were currently up to. For a period of 2 months I was working on site daily with operatives, this gave me a good understanding of the stress and pressures they are subject to in order to meet targets without compromising quality. I had to prepare many health and safety documents to cover all aspects of the dangers and potential dangers the job may bring. During my time with the operations team I learned the importance of teamwork and that no single person is bigger than the team.