The Northern Ireland Housing Executive's (NIHE) sixth annual Health and Safety Contractor conference has taken place in Ballymena.

Over 140 attendees showed up to the event at the Tullyglass Hotel on Thursday 23 March.

Attendees heard from experts across the sector including the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) and Northern Ireland Water. Staff from a number of Housing Executive departments also presented on key themes and issues including; gas safety and asbestos training requirements. 

Winners of the annual Housing Executive Health and Safety Contractor of the Year Awards were announced at the end of the conference.

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Hetherington Painting and Building Contracts took the award for planned maintenance services and Greenview Group won the response maintenance services award.

These accolades acknowledge the consistently high health and safety compliance standards that Housing Executive contractors adhere to, with 30 Principal Contractors in contention for the highly coveted awards.

The Housing Executive's Director of Asset Management, Paul Isherwood, said: "It is important to promote a positive health and safety culture among the contractors that work with us. This includes an awareness of mental health across the industry and providing our employees with the relevant training and support. 

"This year's conference highlighted some key themes including stopping the stigma in relation to mental health in construction and promoting the right messages.

"We were glad to see our mental health charities, Action Mental Health, Aware and PIPs, in attendance and are pleased to have raised a huge £700 at the conference to help them continue their vital work."