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Romeu Faustino on embedding Mercury’s consistent safety approach across Germany, France and Spain
Finding a fulfilling career was always a priority for Romeu Faustino. Growing up in Portugal, he witnessed his father enjoy working in health and safety, which inspired him to follow suit into the industry.
At Mercury, he has found a way to “grow professionally and advance my expertise, communication skills and sense of teamwork,” while pursuing his passion- “challenging mindsets to embrace the safest working practices, collaborating with people every day and guiding them in the right direction. The EHS Advisor asserts that there is nowhere he’d rather fulfil such ambitions than Mercury- “I’ve been working in EHS for over twenty years and Mercury’s level of commitment is not something I’ve witnessed elsewhere.”
Building experience on an international scale
He has forged an impressive career, working across nine different countries, and since joining Mercury in 2018 he has been able to fulfil “one of the great joys of life”- travelling and getting to experience new cultures. Now based in Barcelona, Romeu initially joined the company on a project in Frankfurt before moving to Paris. In all three cities he has expanded his skills on several large-scale data centre projects.
Before joining Mercury, he held the position of Safety Manager, working across projects in Mozambique and Malawi, starting on a complex railway before working his way up to overseeing safety on twelve different projects, including road and bridge constructions. “I really enjoyed getting to live and work on a different continent, I learned a lot about myself and the world, but after six years I did feel myself being drawn back to Europe.”
Ensuring a consistent cross-Europe safety approach
Upon joining the Mercury team, what struck Romeu most was the “top-down approach to safety” he witnessed. “The teams understand the importance of following the key processes and this is because senior management across Mercury know the crucial nature of safety.” Second to this was the support he received from his team- “I also felt very looked after during the entire moving process as I know from experience that moving countries can come with a lot of logistical challenges, but everyone was very helpful in assisting me with getting settled in when I moved.”
Two years after joining he recalls “being asked if I’d be interested in moving with the company to Paris- an opportunity had come up there and it felt great to be recognised for my work by getting the chance to move to France, which had been on my bucket list for some time.” When he arrived in the French capital in early 2020, he was struck by the consistency in safety approaches that he witnessed across regions. More recently he has made another move with Mercury, this time to Barcelona. “I’ve enjoyed each Mercury project that I’ve been a part of. Over the past few years, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with amazing teams and learn about different cultures.”
When asked which of the three cities he has enjoyed the most, Romeu finds it difficult to settle on an answer- “Each is very distinct and has a certain atmosphere, but I’m really enjoying Barcelona, the culture here is very close to what I grew up with at home in Portugal, being surrounded by historic architecture while right by the sea is a pleasure!” He adds that “being closer to my homeland is also a bonus.”
A companywide commitment to Work Safe, Home Safe
But, what’s the secret to maintaining consistently strong levels of safety on projects in three different countries? Romeu notes that central to keeping accidents low and standards high while balancing differing international perceptions of safety is the “wider teams’ acknowledgment of the Work Safe, Home Safe ethos.” This is Mercury’s companywide commitment to ensuring safety is always a chief priority for everyone, by reminding them of the personal consequences that errors can yield, so everyone goes home to their loved ones each day.”
To make this culture happen, Romeu and the team adhere to several key daily health and safety processes which help keep Mercury projects safe- this begins with a morning site walk- “the golden hour walk.” He adds, “I help in facilitating the Daily Coordination Meeting with our subcontractors, which is a chance to check in on the progress of work and raise any questions.” While “no two days are ever the same” Faustino’s role also involves leading daily inductions, inspections, and toolbox talks which educates the wider project team on safe working practices.”
Romeu asserts that he sees himself “as a member of the Mercury team for years to come.” What about Mercury makes him want to continue growing his career there? “As a safety professional you really do feel valued when the wider company takes it so seriously. Over the course of my career this emphasis on personal accountability for everyone on the project is not something I have witnessed.” He succinctly notes “It’s clear to me that safety is the core value of this company, and that’s why I’m here.”
WORKSAFE | HOMESAFE
We are dedicated to achieving the highest possible standards of Health & Safety. Safety is embedded in our DNA, it is the Mercury way – from design to construction, commissioning, and handover – our safety processes ensure adequate coordination and communication to enable our projects to be constructed safely.
Our team understands that by sticking to the safe coordinated plan we can guarantee that our people get home safely to their families at the end of every day. Safety is personal and we intervene proactively to ensure compliance day by day and hour by hour. We respect our workforce, and they respect our management as an integrated team with a common goal – to get home safe each day. Through our Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) policies and procedures, we ensure an industry-leading project delivery every time and most importantly – the safety and wellbeing of all our employees.
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