International Women’s Day: Spotlight on Sophie, HSEQ Assistant Manager

For International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March 2024, we spoke to our health, safety, environment, and quality assistant Sophie Wilson about her career in the industry so far, to get her advice for young people thinking about their futures.

Q: Sophie, how did you get into construction? What influenced you? 

My journey into the construction industry actually began quite unexpectedly. I initially pursued a different career path and was studying at university, but within 12 months I found it wasn’t a great fit for me.

My family have worked in the construction industry for as long as I can remember, and it was my dad who suggested pursuing a career in health and safety.

Q: What has been your career pathway to date? 

I started working as a trainee health, safety, environmental and quality (HSEQ) advisor at my family’s electrical contracting company where I gained experience and training over many years.

Through my local college, I completed the IOSH Managing Safely course before moving on to the NEBOSH Certificates (General, Construction Health & Safety, Fire Safety & Risk Management, Environmental Management & Health & Wellbeing).

I joined Wynne Construction nearly 18 months ago as a HSEQ assistant, and the experience and knowledge I have gained since being here has been invaluable. I really enjoy my day-to-day tasks and working within the HSEQ team.

Q: What does your role involve? 

Usually, I’m out visiting our construction sites two or three days a week, carrying out safety inspections.

This involves going on a site walkabout with the managers, discussing the works taking place that day, taking photos from around the site, and checking through paperwork such as permits and risk assessments and method statements (RAMS). 

I provide support and awareness in matters relating to health and safety, the environment, and quality procedures.

I help compile reports and statistics which we use for our Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This information is then used in monthly and annual reports, as well as meetings.

I assist the HSEQ manager and project teams in project set-up, pre-planning of works, and safe systems of work.

I assist the HSEQ manager in carrying out accident/incident reporting and investigations, identifying root causes and implementing remedial actions.

I also assist in the auditing of our Integrated Management System (IMS).

Q: What is the best part of your role? 

The best part of this role is being able to go out to visit our construction sites every week and seeing the progression of the building works. In some instances, I may not have visited a particular site in 4 weeks and the differences can be huge.

Q: What is it like to work at Wynne Construction? 

I really enjoy working at Wynne. We are a growing company which means there’s always new and innovative ideas which are fun to help implement and use, such as new technologies or systems.

It feels like we are always progressing, and it’s quite exciting to be a part of it. 

Q: What advice would you give to others who are considering their future career options? 

Don’t follow the norm! I found there was a lot of pressure from my high school to have to go to university when this isn’t the case.

There are so many opportunities to get into the construction industry through various trades, there are lots of different college courses and doing some work experience is a great introduce to the world of construction – it might just take a little bit of researching to find a role that would be the perfect fit for you.  

Thank you Sophie Wilson for sharing your pathway in to construction

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