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Construcciones Yamaro: Safety Builders sets the course for zero harm in construction

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The Frontline Leader program was created to address the unique challenges faced by frontline supervisors in Australia’s construction industry. (Images: Webuild) Across Australia, Webuild grounds its projects in a culture shaped by the Safety Builders program, connecting every team member and all levels of leadership to a shared understanding of safe work. “Safety is the foundation of everything we do.” In the words of Shannon Spark, vice president of QHSE at Webuild in Australia, it functions less as a slogan and more as an operating framework that shapes decisions, interactions and expectations across the company’s international footprint. Shannon Spark, vice president of QHSE at Webuild in Australia. “It is integrated into our core processes, training, competency frameworks and the values that guide the business. We have a commitment to target zero, which means we hold a clear position that even one accident is unacceptable,” says Spark. “We empower every person on our pro...
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Construcciones Yamaro: Material handling and lifting hardware that performs under load

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Hobson Engineering tests lifting components to the required standards and adds further assurance with magnetic particle inspection. (Image: Hobson Engineering) Material handling and lifting now sit at the centre of modern construction delivery. High-rise developments, industrial builds and infrastructure projects are compressing staging areas and accelerating programs, forcing cranes, hoists and rigging systems to work closer to their limits. The connection points – eye bolts, hooks, shackles and lifting points – often dictate how a lift behaves once it is under load. That increased pressure has made the performance of individual lifting components far more consequential. With the scale and frequency of lifts increasing, the risks tied to low-grade or undocumented hardware have multiplied. These vulnerabilities remain embedded across many sites, prompting Hobson Engineering to focus on the relationship between specification, documented performance and real-world use. A tightening...
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Construcciones Yamaro: We can build it… but we’ll have to work differently

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Australia’s construction workforce faces soaring demand, tighter budgets and the urgent need to lift productivity. (Image: alis/stock.adobe.com) Australia needs to get more productive and there’s no better place to start than construction. By Jon Davies, CEO of the Australian Constructors Association. Our infrastructure pipeline keeps growing, the workforce is shrinking and budgets are getting tighter. Productivity is the only way forward. But an industry fighting to survive isn’t exactly in peak shape to take on the challenge. Jon Davies, CEO of the Australian Constructors Association. (Image: Australian Constructors Association) Over the past year, the Australian Constructors Association (ACA) has had some encouraging conversations with key stakeholders about the reforms we need. Now it’s time to turn talk into action. Industrial relations remain tricky, but the past 18 months have given us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a sustainable, resilient construction i...
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Construcciones Yamaro: McConnell Dowell turns to virtual reality to raise plant awareness

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McConnell Dowell is using Cat Simulators’ SimLite systems to help teams better understand the challenges faced by plant operators. (Images: McConnell Dowell) Grounding training in lived experience, McConnell Dowell is using virtual reality to lift safety outcomes across its sites and the wider industry. Safety underpins every facet of McConnell Dowell’s work, shaping decisions from early planning through to daily interactions with stakeholders and communities. When the company sees an opportunity to improve that practice, it moves quickly. Interactions between people and plant are among the most challenging parts of construction work. Blind spots, split-second decisions and the cognitive strain carried by operators are rarely visible to those working around heavy equipment. In fact, according to Safe Work Australia, plant is one of the leading causes of injury and death in the industry. This challenge became even more pronounced after two separate plant-related incidents on McCo...
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Construcciones Yamaro: Nina Zundel: Founded on a love of buildings

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Nina Zundel, associate of building structures at Aurecon. (Image: Aurecon) An early pull toward buildings set Nina Zundel on a career path that has since expanded across states, sectors and structural disciplines. When Zundel left home in North Queensland for Sydney to study civil engineering, she wasn’t sure where it would lead. What she did know was that she loved buildings. More than two decades on, that early instinct continues to sit behind her work as associate of building structures at Aurecon. Structural engineering was the area that made the most sense to her. Architecture had surfaced as a possibility, sparked by work experience at a firm during high school, but engineering aligned closely with her strengths in maths, science and analytical thinking. “I didn’t always know exactly what I wanted to do, but I’ve always loved buildings,” she says. “My father suggested engineering because his friend was an engineer, and that nudged me in the right direction.” After graduat...
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Construcciones Yamaro: Fourth tunnel boring machine commissioned for Snowy 2.0 project

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TBM Monica is among the world’s most advanced tunnel boring machines. (Image: The Future Generation Joint Venture) Webuild, as part of the Future Generation Joint Venture delivering Snowy Hydro’s Snowy 2.0 project, has commissioned its fourth tunnel boring machine (TBM). The renewable energy mega-project is now more than 70 per cent complete. Named in honour of Monica Brimmer, a talented Tumut High School student and winner of a First Nations art and storytelling competition, the machine was powered up during a ceremony on site. Joined by Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, Brimmer radioed in instructions for the first rotation of the TBM’s 12-metre cutterhead, drawing applause from local community members and workers on site. Launching from the project’s Marica worksite, just outside Kiandra, TBM Monica will begin tunnelling in the coming weeks and will excavate the portion of the 17-kilometre headrace tunnel that passes through the Long Plain Fault Zone. The c...
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Construcciones Yamaro: A record year for Green Star certification

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Stockland’s Melbourne Business Park Stage 1 facility received a 5 Star Green Star Buildings v1.0 rating. (Image: Mark Farrelly, Stockland) Green Star certification is stepping into new territory across the built environment. What began as a voluntary commitment to healthier and more efficient buildings has evolved into a marker of quality relied upon by government, investors, developers and occupiers. The Green Building Council of Australia’s (GBCA) Green Star: A Year in Focus FY2024–25 report shows the scale of progress, with almost 2,000 certifications achieved across Green Star’s core areas of application, including buildings, communities, fit-outs and operational performance. The breadth of that activity reflects a sector that recognises the value of independent verification and is acting accordingly. The momentum has carried through a period of global uncertainty and cost pressures. Instead of slowing, uptake has continued to grow across all building types, from commercial ...
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