A team of students from IT Carlow have won the Health and Safety Authority’s ‘Safety in Construction’ third level competition aimed at undergraduates. At the final held in Dublin’s RDS today (Thursday 7th March), six short-listed teams battled it out to win first prize. Each winning member received an Apple iPad. A team from NUI Galway won second place and a prize of €600.
The remaining four finalist teams received €300 per team and all received certificates of commendation. The winning team will also be invited to address the Irish Wind Energy Association Conference in June of this year.
The aim of the competition is to provide an environment where undergraduate students can collaborate and work together to enhance, develop and embed their knowledge and understanding of health and safety in construction. The competition involved posing a series of safety challenges with regards to the construction of a wind farm.
Joanne Harmon, Education Manager with the Health and Safety Authority said, “The competition is in its fourth year and it’s great to see the level of engagement from students and their lecturers as well as on-going high standards and creativity on display. I would like to congratulate the ‘Ventus Vis Vires’ team from IT Carlow and thank everyone else who took part. By encouraging this level of collaboration, students can come together from different disciplines and get to work together as professionals.
“The approach to the competition is based on problem-based learning which resembles professional life far more than many more traditional methods of assessment. The feedback from students and their lecturers is that the engagement of working together with their colleagues on the competition is a rewarding and enjoyable part of their learning experience.”
The judging panel was made up of the following members: Paraig Earley (Construction Policy Inspector, HSA), Mike Keyes (Aegis Safety Management) and Tony Sheridan (Health and Safety Manager, John Sisk and Son Ltd).
