Steve Sanzone Graduate Construction Manager
Joined:	2007
Background:	Student
Education:	BSc (Hons) Construction Management and MSc International Project Management
Interests:	Football, Rugby, Golf, Fishing, music, going to gigs

3rd November 08
Another busy weekend

Should have known that after all the good things that had been happening for me over the last couple of weeks, something bad was bound to go wrong eventually! Unfortunately it came about in the form of a car accident on Saturday due to the poor weather conditions and standing water on the road. Thankfully though no one was hurt, but my car has been written off so its now time to start doing some car shopping soon.

Tuesday and Wednesday was more training days for me as I had the remaining two days of the ISOH to complete. Pretty sure I passed the test at the end, so that only leaves me with a small assessment to carry out which will take the form of a supervisors inspection report of the Forth Valley Project. I have never undertaken one before so it will be a good learning experience for me, as it is something that I will no doubt become more involved with in the near future.

It’s going to be a case of another busy weekend ahead for me, working Saturday and Sunday to get the last of the major work elements completed for the office extension. I have the data comms installation works being carried out, as well as the remainder of the additional server room expansion, so coming in to supervise the works and make sure we stick to programme.

As far as I’m aware this will be my last blog post, however, you never know. There could be more to come in the future so watch this space!

Thank you and good night!
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10th October 08
Coming of age

We are now well and truly underway at Forth Valley. The foundations have been started and the first cabins arrive a week on Tuesday. One of the drawbacks of working in bonny Scotland is the weather (see below); hopefully rain won’t put us too far behind programme as the build continues into winter.

The last couple of weeks have been a steep learning curve. Some planning tasks have proved a particularly challenging because I am completely new to this type of work.  At times it’s been quite frustrating, but it’s been worth it for the amount of information I’ve gained from.

Thankfully this week has been a little less stressful and I have started to feel I’m making real progress. There is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel that I hope will get brighter as the weeks go by – even though the nights are drawing in!

My Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship was officially announced in a CIOB press release this week so I’ve had plenty of congratulatory emails from business leaders landing in my inbox. Always nice to receive praise for hard work.

There’s another busy weekend in store: a leaving do for my manager tonight; it’s ‘party time’ on Saturday – all of my friend’s are out in aid of my birthday; Sunday is the big day – I turn 24!
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12 Sep 2008
Day at Ascot

First off, the holiday was great – fact that I came home from Ibiza in one piece is definitely a good thing. If we’d booked with XL I might still be there now! Alas my holidays for the year are over and once again it’s time to get my head down and concentrate on the work I left behind. In hindsight, returning to work on Friday was probably not the best idea, but it did give me the chance to wade through the emails that had stacked over the last ten days – allowing me to start fresh on Monday.

At the moment my main challenge is tackling the extension to site accommodation. Once I get back into the groove (hopefully) everything will be plain sailing, but for the time being it is a case of phone calls and emails chasing details and drawings.

Next Wednesday marks the start of my scholarship research. I’m due at the CIOB headquarters in Ascot for my first review meeting; it’s a real opportunity to discuss the programme and my plans in greater depth. As a result, most of the weekend will be spent working to ensure that my records are in place and up to date… Of course, I always make time to watch the Jags play and this Saturday will be no different.

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29 August 08
Holiday handover

Once again Friday is upon me and once again I’m away on holiday next week! As a result, it has been a case of getting my head down and tying all those loose ends before I finish today. Thankfully, most of the outstanding work is quite repetitive which definitely saves time, but I’ll still have to put my organisational skills to good use to complete everything on the list.

So, my tasks for the remainder of the day are to produce the one week look-ahead programmes (this lists the sequence of site activities that will take place over the next five working days), and the c-sheet matrices. I will also update the K-Guard schedules and organise the scaffold handover… Just like that and my desk will be clear!

As for the holiday, without a doubt I’m looking forward to sunnier climes and relaxing with beer or two by the pool! Or perhaps not – in Ibiza I’m far more likely to spend ridiculous amounts of money getting into clubs and not rise until 3pm the next day, but, either way, it promises to be good fun.

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22 August 2008
Sunny spells

First off I must mention my holiday to the south of France last week. I had such a great time. It was really good to get away for a bit and relax in the warm sunshine. Now the countdown is on until next Sunday when I’m off again, this time to Ibiza. I can’t wait, especially as the weather in Scotland has been so terrible recently, you would almost think it was winter already!

Wednesday saw a milestone in my Laing O’Rourke career – it was officially a year to the day that I joined the company. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here a year already, I have to say that so far I have enjoyed working alongside all the team here at Forth Valley and am looking forward to building upon the experiences and knowledge I have gained.

Due to being away, the week has been a case of playing catch up with my work – largely progress mark-ups. At the moment the progress being made on a weekly basis is phenomenal, recording progress has gone from a 30 minute wander round site to nearly a full day’s work. Although I do not officially start my research for the Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship until next month, I have been spending the last couple of days organising a research programme and timescales for the year ahead (very handy that I’m currently carrying out a planning placement on site).

Unfortunately the weekend’s not got off to the best of starts, having just returned from the dentist I am completely numb across the left side of my face after getting a few fillings replaced… happy days!

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8 August 2008
Making progress

It has been a case of holiday demob week. I’ve been running around, getting myself ready for finishing up today before I head off to the south of France for my friends wedding. Top of the list to be completed was the harness protocol, which I had to integrate within the existing procedures on site. This involved a tool box talk with the storemen to ensure they were aware of the new process and procedures.

On Thursday I had my first CIOB Personal Development Programme (PDP) review meeting with my assessor down at Project 141 Bothwell Street in Glasgow City Centre. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss my progress along the CIOB PDP and submit a claim of competence in any completed units. On this occasion I was able to submit my report and evidence for the communication unit, and, as a result, got the ‘sign-off’ of the unit from my assessor. One down, eight to go!

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1 August 2008
Planning ahead

This week has been slightly more hectic than most because I am fast approaching the last few days of my site management placement before moving into planning. I have already been brushing up on some of the planning skills I’ll be required to use in my new role, I drafted a programme of works for the installation of new site accommodation.

It can definitely be said that the word of the week has been ‘research’. Seems like the majority of the tasks I carried out involved collecting information in some form – from material hoists to harness inspection protocol. I also started my research investigation into manual handling and organisational culture for the Sir Ian Dixon scholarship award. From dissertation experience at university, I found that getting started as early as possible and getting into a routine helps so much, particularly as the deadline creeps closer and closer.

After all the long hours and hard work that I’ve been putting in this week, I have another exciting weekend planned ahead. My friend is getting married next week and all the guys are heading north to Fort William for fishing, partying and white water rafting. Hopefully only the latter activity will involve me falling in water!

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25th July 2008
In deep water

After mentioning last week that I was out on Friday night playing virtual golf with the team from site, I am pleased to report back that we won! The team made up of Louise, Brian, Mick and myself.  We managed to finish with a score of one over par on the tricky pebble beach course.

It was Glasgow Fair on Monday and I decided to take the day off to make the most of the holiday. Five of us headed to Loch Lomond for the day and ended up going to sea world. Not as great as I thought it was going to be and definitely not what I remember it being like when I was a kid.

Post-nautical adventure and having seen numerous brown trout and bream fish (very rare apparently), I decided to rent a canoe on the loch. I had a funny feeling it was all going to end in tears and needless to say I was right!  After 20 minutes of paddling frantically through choppy waves we ended up falling into the water and had to be rescued before hypothermia kicked in.

On the work front I’ve been playing catch-up with the work I missed on Monday. It was rather a strange week, having that one day off totally threw me out of my usual routine. I have the unenviable task of organising the extension to the new office cabins. The need for space grows every week as more and more operatives start on site. The task will prove a challenge but I relish the responsibility. Besides it will provide a great opportunity to put my recent placement experiences into practice, most notably construction management and planning. Anyway, now Friday is here and I’m back on track…..perfect for starting the weekend.

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18th July 2008
First game of the new season

Got some good news this week on the CIOB Sir Ian Dixon scholarship award. Got a call to say I have been chosen and now have the green light to get started on my year's worth of research into the area of manual handling and organisational culture within the industry. Will mean a lot more work for me to take on, but still looking forward to it and the challenges that I’ll need to overcome to reach my deadlines.

Tuesday marked an important day for me, was the first game of the new season for Partick Thistle. Although it may have only been a friendly game against Stirling Albion…. Every match counts as the clock ticks down to the opening league game of the season! The weekend has finally come around after a week of plate spinning. Out tonight with the guys from work to the Golf Lounge in Glasgow for beers and virtual golf. There should be more than a few laughs, especially as the majority of those going don’t play golf! __________________________________________________________

11th July 2008
All aboard the football ferry…

Another week draws near to a close, although not as exciting as previous weeks, it’s been busy and productive – managing to clear the ever increasing work mountain. So glad the weekend has finally come round again, despite the fact I’ll be back in the office on Saturday to finish off my site management placement report to ensure that it is complete for my next mentor review meeting on Thursday.

On Wednesday night decided to go to the cinema and watch the film Hancock, quite enjoyed it and definitely funnier than I imagined it would be. Was actually a good change to go out on a school night and break the routine that I’ve developed lately of work, gym and sleep! Got my ferry booked for next year’s trip to Amsterdam. I’m heading over to watch the Holland vs. Scotland game… I can’t wait, only seven months to go!
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4th July 2008
Like a bat out of hell

Always knew it was going to be a fun week when one of the construction managers came into work on Monday sporting his new Just for Men hair style to cover up the grey! Needless to say we had a good laugh at his expense.

I’m now approaching the end of my second placement in site management and I’m required to produce a report on my time in these roles: responsibilities, success stories, lessons learned, experiences gained and so on and so… At the moment my time is spent ensuring that is all complete and signed off before moving on to my next placement in the planning department.

The only bad note of the week was when I fell down the stairs, slipping on the top step, probably looked more like I had slipped on a banana peel the way I went down. After managing to hurtle down half a dozen steps like a bat out of hell, I quickly managed to pick myself up and briskly walk on before too many people managed to stop and stare. Following ‘the incident’ I’m really looking forward to the weekend now. I’ll be meeting up with my mate who works out in Dubai but is back in sunny Scotland for some summer fun.

Hopefully no more injuries will come my way. I’ll survive… Well at least for another week anyhow! __________________________________________________________

30th June 2008
Rogues' gallery

It was another four-day week for me again, although this time I was off site on work-related issues. On Tuesday I was at the CIOB headquarters in Ascot for a presentation and interview for the Sir Ian Dixon scholarship research award. The day involved me going through my research proposal and answering the questions that were put to me. All going well, I should find out how I got on in a couple of weeks…so until then it’s a case of fingers crossed.

Finally underway with my Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome testing this week - part of a test period, monitoring vibrations emitted from power tools. This will enable all the data to be collected in a database for review and monitoring, to reduce the impact of HAVS.

The banter on site amongst the team is still great. After creating a ‘rogues' gallery’ on the wall - where we pin up humorous photos and pictures of each other for laughs - we have in the space of a few weeks already managed to cover a section of the wall. So far I’ve done pretty well as I have only managed to appear once…..plenty of time for more though!

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23rd June 2008
On the fly

I guess it’s true what they say: time flies when you are having fun. This week has flown in again so quickly. But this has started to become a regular occurrence now the project is picking up speed and new hospital blocks are coming out of the ground left, right and centre.

Friday was a holiday day for me, as I was flying down to London for the weekend, visiting a friend. Gutted I missed the usual ‘team bonding’ Friday lunch at the Yang Sing restaurant though…aahhh well there is always next Friday!

The rest of the week has had a very rushed feel about it. Was trying to get bits and pieces finished off for Thursday evening before I left for the ‘big smoke’.

It has been a great week for working on site with the weather finally starting to resemble something that looks like summer. So it has been a case of shirt sleeves rolled up and let the sun top up the Scottish tan!! Hopefully it will be the same again next week.
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13th June 2008
Building tetrahedrons...

As part of my construction ambassador training I am required to participate in a minimum of three events per year to helping to promote the construction industry within schools and other external events. This week I managed to help out a giant tetrahedron event with primary six children at Lenzie primary school. The event involved chatting about the industry and my role with Laing O’Rourke and the construction industry as a whole, then relating the aspects of health and safety to the building of the tetrahedron (a four metre, four sided structure created from dowels and elastic bands). As this was my first ambassador event, I found it to be very rewarding, although before I went in I was slightly nervous as to how the whole day would go.

As I enjoyed it so much, I decided to offer my services for another event at the Science centre were I was involved in ‘Lab in a lorry’. Similar to what I did on Monday, I was working with primary and secondary children on various engineering experiments, which can be related to everyday life.

On the work front, it has been another busy but rewarding week. I’ve been ensuring that all my deadlines are met, including weekly progress mark-ups, completion of meeting minutes, health and safety monitoring and weekly co-ordination of one week lookahead programmes, all in time for our weekly Friday lunch with all the guys involved with the Core team on the project.

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6th June 2008
Working on the largest construction project in Scotland

I joined Laing O’Rourke in August 2007 as a Graduate Construction Manage with adegree in Construction Management and a master’s degree in International Project Managementr. Since I joined the company, I have been working on a PFI Hospital Project in Scotland. It is currently the largest project under construction in Scotland, and has provided me with a fantastic opportunity to work on a high profile project alongside a great project team.

As part of the Scottish graduates programme I am currently working through the two and a half year structured graduate programme that allows me to undertake various placements throughout the company, helping to broaden my experience and knowledge of the wider construction industry. To date I am currently 10 months into the graduate programme, and have undertaken two placements within the area of Engineering and Site Management.

The graduate programme ihas helped me with the transition from university to working life which is always a difficult first step. I have been able to build upon my knowledge and experiences gained at university and take it to the next level. I have so far been able to undertake activities that I have had little or no previous experience in, and through this has undoubtedly expanded my understanding of the construction industry as a whole.

My main interests outside of work are wide and varied, as I believe it is important to maintain an active social life out with working hours to further develop interpersonal skills, which are an essential element to maintaining first-rate team working abilities. I try to attend the gym on a regular basis, as I find it both enjoyable and rewarding. I enjoy playing sports, including five aside football, Muay Thai classes, badminton, golf, rugby, as I have a particular interest in outdoor activities. Within the team at Forth Valley, I have found there to be a very strong social link both within and out with the working hours, as there always great camaraderie with the guys and girls, and the opportunity for days and nights out, which is fantastic as it enables the opportunity to strengthen relationships created with the people that I work alongside on a daily basis.