On Friday 5^th October 2012, Obelisk Group received a Major (2) Safety Award from the National Irish Safety Organisation (NISO).

The Safety Awards entries included all sectors of the Irish economy from pharmaceuticals to soft drink manufacturers, from large scale multinationals to local small enterprises, all competed with each other to prove their commitment to safety, health and welfare at work.

Obelisk Group consistently outperformed their competitors in 2011-12, receiving a prestigious Regional Safety Award, at the 2012 awards dinner ceremony. The 2012 Safety Award was for the entire Obelisk Group operations which includes Obelisk Networks, WMI (Wind Energy), Obelisk Power/Energy infrastructure, and their International Operations in UK and South Africa.

Colm Murphy (CEO Obelisk Group) stated: “The safety culture in Obelisk is strong and we have a reputation for high standards across Obelisk Group. Congratulations to our Health & Safety Department team, to all Employees and Managers who collectively work together to maintain the high standards of safety, health and welfare at work we expect”.

L-R: Pauric Corrigan (President NISO), Dave Healy (Obelisk), John Perry TD (Minister of Small Business), Colm Murphy (CEO Obelisk Group), Stephen Rooney (Obelisk Group Health & Safety

Obelisk held it's annual Health & Safety Seminar on 24th of February 2012 at Carlton House Hotel, Kildare.

Obelisk Employees and Sub-contractors were requested to attend.

The event was a great success with many speakers in attendance.

In 2011 Obelisk Group had ZERO Reportable Accidents.

Obelisk Group are now 18 Months HSA/RIDDOR Reportable Accident Free.

Due to the Employee participation in our ZERO ACCIDENT PLAN we have seen a 12.5 fold increase in Near-Miss Reporting in 2011, this reporting is producing positive results.

Keep submitting Near-Miss reports in 2012. All reports have value and are discussed on a weekly basis with the Managing Director and the Operations Management team.

Obelisk Energy exhibits at the South African Wind Energy Association’s 2011 Windaba.

Windaba 2011 is the premier international event on wind energy in South Africa hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association. It took place in Cape Town from the 27-29 September 2011.

At the event, Justin Burnett (Obelisk’s MD in South Africa) presented Obelisk’s perspectives on “Taking the uncertainty out of wind data”. This was based on Obelisk’s involvement in over 30 wind measurement projects in South Africa, across a variety of different locations (Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Karoo and KwaZulu Natal) and terrains (beach sand, desert, rock etc).

Obelisk Group have been NERS accredited.

Lloyd's Register operate the National Electricity Registration Scheme on behalf of the UK Distribution Network Operators (DNOs). Under the scheme Lloyd's Register perform technical assessment of the Service Providers who elect to be assessed for accreditation for contestable works associated with the installation of electrical connections.

This month Obelisk's wind farm operations division feature in PEI, Power Engineering International.

The article entitled “Predictive maintenance strategies maximize turbine uptime” is penned by Mark Evans, in his role as Head of Operations & Maintenance at Obelisk. It describes in depth how wind turbine operators can cut costs and raise uptime by moving from a reactive strategy to one where interventions are planned in advance and failures are anticipated through new monitoring technologies.

To read the entire article click here http://www.powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/1638775202/articles/power-engineering-international/volume-19/issue-5/features/predictive-maintenance-strategies-maximize-turbine-uptime.html

Mark Evans, Head of Operations & Maintenance has more than20 years of experience of working in the energy, renewable and electrical construction sectors, Evans previously managed operations for power producer Agility Electricity in Queensland and Western Australia. He was also project manager on contracts with Northern Ireland Electricity, Electricity Supply Board and Scottish Power.

Obelisk Group managing director Padraig Brady said, ‘Our operations and maintenance division is a strategic and growing area for us and we are always delighted to discuss our expertise with the industry.’ 

Obelisk Group delighted to announce that they are now accrediated with the SAFEcontractor Certificate, a programme which recognises very high standards of health and safety practise amongst UK Contractors.

SAFEcontractor accrediation is expected to enhance the company's ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company liabilty policy is up for renewal.

John Kinge, head of Risk at SAFEcontractor said, "Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies".

"More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way Obelisk have done. The firm's high standard has set an example, which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector."

Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice.