Deafblind UK helps Laing O’Rourke to maximize workers’ wellbeing

National sight and hearing loss charity, Deafblind UK is working with the largest privately owned construction company in the UK, Laing O’Rourke, to raise awareness of sight and hearing damage to construction workers.

Laing O’Rourke employs over 15,000 people across the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong and the Middle East. They are keen to provide maximum wellbeing to their workforce. Bob Williams, Project Leader said: “Many people working in the construction industry do not realise the potential damage to their hearing and eye sight by not taking proper precautions. Working with Deafblind UK will help us raise awareness of the future consequences our actions today.”

Deafblind UK supports people with sight and hearing loss to live the lives they want. It provides a wide range of direct support services and also supports other organisations to help their own staff and customers. The charity organised an information day at Laing O’Rourke’s Cambridge site, where they demonstrated the impact of sight and hearing loss on everyday life. They offered safety advice along with health tips to help workers prolong their senses.

As a national charity, Deafblind UK relies on donations of £35,000 every week to enable it to do the life-changing work it does.

Laing O’Rourke employees have recently taken part in an all-day spinathon where they covered approximately 250km on exercise bikes and raised money for Deafblind UK.

Bob added: “Deafblind UK is a hugely worthwhile charity and we are excited about the opportunity to support them in any way we can, whether this is through volunteering, raising money or raising awareness of the cause.”

Liz Bates, Chief Executive of Deafblind UK said: “Certain working conditions, such as those in the construction industry, account for a lot of combined sight and hearing loss in later life, so we are delighted that such a prestigious organisation is keen to take employee wellbeing so seriously and we are hugely grateful for Laing O’Rourke’s mutual support and generosity.”