SSE and Balfour Beatty join forces to close safety gap

It is a scenario every site manager recognises. A project is behind schedule, a crucial piece of paperwork has not been signed off, and the pressure to move forward is quietly mounting. In the high-risk world of power transmission and distribution, these moments matter.

Teams are working every day in environments with fatal risks that affect day-to-day operations, live electricity, utility avoidance, working at height, lifting operations, excavations, people and plant interface, stored energy and driving. Procedures and processes are in place to keep people safe, however, as Balfour Beatty’s head of health, safety and wellbeing assurance, Graham Boyd, puts it: “Human factors remain the biggest challenge.”

Across the electricity sector, those day-to-day pressure points are where safety culture is most exposed. They are also where the relationship between client and contractor can determine the outcome. Instead of reinforcing compliance alone, one of the UK’s leading electricity companies, SSE, is taking a more collaborative approach with its partners, moving towards what Balfour Beatty describes as “shared responsibility” for health, safety and wellbeing.

This case study explores how that approach is playing out on major UK energy projects and why it is strengthening culture on both sides of the relationship.

The relationship between SSE and Balfour Beatty dates back more than 100 years to when Balfour Beatty constructed the Rannoch Power Station for the Grampian Electricity Supply Company, which later became part of the SSE Renewables portfolio. Today, the partnership spans overhead lines, cabling and substation works across the UK, involving specialist engineering teams operating in some of the sector’s most challenging environments.

While Balfour Beatty has a mature internal health, safety and wellbeing management system, the company highlights SSE’s role as an “informed and engaged client” that strengthens operational discipline and encourages open dialogue. This is not positioned as a client exerting pressure. It is the opposite – a client willing to challenge constructively, set clear expectations and engage consistently with teams on the ground.

A recurring theme in this partnership experience is the value of SSE’s clear and consistent SHE specifications. Rather than creating additional administrative burden, the specifications provide clarity around expectations and promote earlier planning and risk elimination. According to Balfour Beatty, SSE “raises the bar” by aligning everyone on what good looks like before work begins.

This has created more robust conversations at project level. It has also strengthened the relationship between senior leaders. The result is “excellent” engagement between the two organisations, with multiple working groups focused on improving health, safety and wellbeing. This means the collaboration is not limited to isolated initiatives; it is built into business-as-usual delivery.

One of the most compelling aspects of the partnership is its emphasis on real-world pressures that sit behind procedure. Both organisations share the same mantra: “If it’s not safe, we don’t do it.” However, even the best people make mistakes. People sometimes make the wrong safety choices that they believe at the time are for the right reasons.

Balfour Beatty’s behavioural safety programme, Make Safety Personal, encourages health and safety as a value and for employees and supply chain partners to take personal responsibility for health, safety and wellbeing. The programme goal is to build a safe inclusive environment where people:

Continual improvement and development of these programmes is key to achieving and keeping a good health and safety culture.

For example, Balfour Beatty reflects on situations explored through the immersive learning programme at SSE’s Faskally Safety Leadership Centre. These scenarios included:

These examples resonate with frontline teams because they mirror the situations they face daily. The immersive training, delivered by Active Training Team (ATT) “gave people the skills to change the outcome,” according to Boyd, offering a realistic and relatable environment that prompts discussion about how decisions are made in moments of pressure.

A recent collaboration on continual improvement was the establishment of the Pathway to 2030 Steering Group in SSE’s transmission business. The Steering Group comprised senior managers from both SSE and its contract partner organisations (typically those acting as principal contractors on their sites), along with health safety and wellbeing professionals. The Steering Group created six working groups: Performance Matrices, Transmission Essentials, Gold Standard of Wellbeing, Plant and Pedestrian Interface, Safety By Design, and Construction Site Digitisation. 

Through these groups, SSE is now collaboratively developing several SHE Specification requirements, with enhanced supervisory requirements and human form recognition on plant being some recent examples.

The Port Ann – Crossaig project offers a practical illustration of collaboration shaping culture beyond policy documents and processes. Both organisations conducted regular joint site inspections and maintained open dialogue throughout delivery. 

However, the initiative that stands out is the creation of a joint trainee forum, psychological safe space for trainees. Working with SSEN (Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks), Balfour Beatty supported a space where trainees could meet outside of site hours in a more relaxed setting.

Shared meals created an informal environment for people to talk openly about their experiences, challenges and concerns they faced both inside and outside of work. More experienced colleagues joined as guest contributors, helping to build confidence and strengthen engagement.

This is a small, human intervention, but its impact is meaningful. It reinforces psychological safety, encourages early intervention and creates a culture where speaking up and learning from others is normalised rather than feared.

Another insight into successful collaboration is a willingness from the client to invest in wellbeing as a critical part of safety. On certain projects, SSEN allocated budget specifically for wellbeing initiatives, recognising that fatigue, stress and isolation are genuine safety risks, particularly on remote sites.

One tangible example is the installation of onsite gym facilities where local infrastructure is limited. This support is described as “making a real difference” by improving physical and mental health and reinforcing the message that people’s wellbeing genuinely matters.

Three areas that have seen the greatest influence through Balfour Beatty’s partnership with SSE include:

While both organisations already had strong foundations, this partnership has provided an additional layer of assurance and accountability. Mark Patterson, Group SHE Director at SSE, says the focus on shared responsibility and collective wellbeing across clients and contractor is creating a more resilient environment that protects their people while delivering the UK’s critical energy infrastructure. 

He adds: “We are incredibly pleased with how this collaboration is evolving and it remains a blueprint for how we intend to work with our partners to raise industry standards.”