Interview: ‘It’s a passion I’ve got for construction’

Stewart McArthur was drawn to safety even prior to joining the construction sector as a teenager in the 1980s. He had a short stint in catering and was already noticing “they’re not the best at doing fire design” in the hotel he was working in before he decided to switch his career from the kitchen to the building site. 

Construction has become a lifelong pursuit for McArthur and he retains his love for working in the building industry decades on from starting as a site manager. “I think it’s a passion I’ve got for construction. I love it,” he says, adding: “I don’t think I’ll ever retire from the built environment – there’ll always be something there for me to do.”

The 63-year-old is drawing on a varied career working in the industry for his new role as director at the APS. McArthur took up his post in February; he was appointed a board member at the same time as Stefan Mordue. He joined APS relatively recently as a member in 2023, initially drawn in by the CPD the association offers, which he describes as “really great”.

McArthur is brimming with positivity and ambition for the body as both a positive force for members but also increasing its influence across the wider industry. “It’s a body that can show a lot of leadership and take things forward in a positive manner,” he says. “I think APS has got so much potential.”

McArthur’s early instinct for safety led his boss to suggest he become a building control officer. This was down to his communication skills, his close understanding of legislation and that “I was good at communicating this legislation to people in terms that they understood”. He worked in building control departments in Dumfries and Galloway and West Lothian before moving to roles that ranged from contracts management, certifying building guarantees for an insurance company and his current role as regional manager at consultancy giant Bureau Veritas.

Safety is given much more serious consideration in the industry now compared with the start of his career. 

“It’s much more front of mind in the industry… it’s a lot, lot different from 40 years ago, where I think we value our people more now,” he says. In the 1980s, safety “wasn’t given much thought”, and McArthur points to early experiences of witnessing poor practice on sites as an indicator of carelessness and poor planning. 

“I remember going to a site once and seeing one of the local labourers standing underneath a crane that was straight above his head with stuff falling out of it. No helmet, no high vis, no strategy.” 

This contrasts with much greater care given and controls for those working on or visiting sites now such as requirements for PPE and risk and also the emphasis on designers to consider project safety as an integral part of design, McArthur adds.

McArthur also points to an accident that occurred when he was a site manager, where a joiner fell from a scaffolding that he had set up himself and was not tied onto anything. The worker broke his hip in the incident and “I don’t think he ever went back [to work]”. “That reinforced my belief that you need to be safety aware,” McArthur says. “I think things like that do echo in the back of your head.”

McArthur believes his mix of site and office experience has been invaluable in understanding the daily challenges of working on sites and to inform how best to integrate and prioritise safety. He worked as a contracts manager in the social housing sector, which was “an eye-opener”. “I’ve never got my feet so wet in my life on that job,” he jokes, and points to preparation and proper planning as being crucial for good site practices. “It brought into emphasis the health and safety elements of what your scope of work is before you start on site,” he says.

A key safety principle for McArthur is carving out time prior to entering a site. He cites a “golden rule” of his current employer Bureau Veritas is to devote two minutes “to review what’s there, and if you can say it’s not safe, you don’t go in”. This approach of standing back and taking on board the site environment is “something that’s always pertinent for people that work in construction”. “I think we will move to a better, safer industry… if we take that two minutes… and don’t rush on to site. If you’re running late, you can phone the person and say, ‘Look, I’m going to be two minutes late’.”

McArthur is originally from the Western Isles (he moved to the mainland at age 17) and has spent his entire career working north of the border, so will bring that experience and perspective to the APS. “I’m here as a conduit for any of our APS members in Scotland to take items to the board if they wish to do it. I will represent them as best I can.”

He sees the different safety regimes across the UK as to an extent natural given their different environments such as varied weather conditions and building and material types that are used in different countries.

“The push for high-rise development in Scotland is minimal compared to what’s happening down south. In Scotland, we do a lot more timber frame construction, which means the evolution of that is going forward,” he says, but adds that there is a broad direction of travel UK-wide. “They’re [different UK territories] all evolving at different times, they’re all looking at different aspects, but they’re coming around to similar measures.”

McArthur can also draw from extensive experience working for and representing other industry bodies such as Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), the Construction Industry Council (CIC), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and he sees an opportunity for such groups to work together. “I think APS is great at bringing in the other professional bodies to look at what they’re doing and to work in tandem with it,” he says.  

He identifies key challenges facing safety professionals, including fire prevention, citing the most recent tragedies and incidents such as Grenfell and the more recent and closer to home fire at Glasgow Central Station in March. “It’s becoming a much more sensitive issue,” he says, and adds that changes in technology – from EV vehicles to robotics and AI – will also change the face of construction sites and professionals will need to try and anticipate “future changes, problems and new risks”.

But McArthur warns against overburdening the sector with more change. “I think the industry needs to take stock first and activate the measures that they’ve got in place. Once they’ve activated these, they can then look to anything required in the future,” he says. 

McArthur says he is still learning despite nearing the end of his full-time career. “Every day is a school day, no matter what anyone says,” he says and adds that this ongoing education is from all experiences in the industry.

One example is his interactions with Fran Watkins-White’s CDM team at Bureau Veritas, who have widened his understanding of health and safety. “I’m still learning day by day and it’s not just from the fully qualified people. It’s from some of the youngsters – some of their ideas are actually more pertinent to what we do than someone that’s been working in business for 40 or 50 years,” he says.

He sees this blend of experience and fresh ideas and perspectives and communication across the industry as critical to overcoming future challenges in safety practices and cultures.

Industry role:

Industry bodies: