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Ryan Scott is the Senior EHS Manager, ROI/UK for Kirby Group Engineering. He oversees the company’s Irish and UK involvement in the CIF Construction Safety Campaign.
In preparation for the CIF Construction Safety Campaign, Ryan says that:
“Our aim is to deliver a programme that will engage, inform and resonate with our colleagues. Safety is second nature here at Kirby, but we never take it for granted – our people are our number one priority and sending them home safe each day is a big part of my role”.
Kirby is an Irish engineering firm with operations across Ireland, the UK, mainland Europe, the Nordics, and South Africa. It employs over 1,900 people and provides full mechanical and electrical contracting services as well as specialist high-voltage (HV) and medium-voltage (MV) design and construction services. Kirby’s clients range across a number of different sectors including Data Centres, Life Sciences, Industrial, and Power and Renewables.
For their 2025 Construction Safety Campaign, Ryan and his colleagues have scheduled events aligned with each of the CIF sub-themes – which also reflect the company’s core values of People, Safety, Quality, Delivery and Value. They include a session on leadership from former Special Forces member and TV regular Ray Goggins, and a visit from Stephen Kirby, who will share his account of surviving a near-fatal workplace accident. The Lighthouse Charity, which provides support for construction workers and their families and Musgrove and Ball, which helps people affected by addiction in the UK will be giving presentations. Kirby is also scheduling Working at Height compliance sessions, Control of Hazardous Energy Workshops and Occupational Health Checks.
The events are being hosted across Kirby sites in the Republic of Ireland, UK and Europe, in an effort to engage as many colleagues as possible.
“The Construction Safety Campaign is now a cornerstone of our annual calendar,” says Ryan. “This fortnight sets the tone for our year-round approach. With the Kirby Zero Harm Programme at the heart of our business, we consistently deliver projects to the highest standards, ensuring safety is never compromised and client expectations are always met.”
“Another significant highlight of the CIF Construction Safety Campaign is the active collaboration and engagement with our supply chain partners, clients and their wider networks too. Their participation in our safety events not only demonstrates their shared commitment to maintaining a safe working environment but also reinforces the collective responsibility we all have for safety on every project.”
As a company, Kirby Group Engineering has been on a path towards digitisation for more than a decade. Its Environmental, Health, and Safety systems are now moving to a fully digital platform as part of a drive to streamline processes and improve overall efficiency. Ryan says it’s a logical move: “By reducing the time required for administrative tasks, our EHS professionals will be able to dedicate more time to what truly matters — engaging directly with our workforce. This means greater focus on mentoring, on-the-job training, proactive interventions, and coaching to ensure we continue to create a safe and supportive work environment on every Kirby Project”.
When it comes to the CIF’s overall theme of ‘Back to Basics’, Ryan Scott says it’s an important point, as getting the basics right is vital for adapting to future developments:
“AI is the concept on the everyone’s minds now and while it can’t yet build physical projects, we are staying up to date with every relevant development – both to understand how it will affect project delivery and how we can harness AI to continue improving the safety of our people.”
