Today we celebrate International Women's Day while also recognising Women in Construction Week 2023. These events are to help celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of women, while also inspiring future generations to get involved and change the stereotypes that women face. It is important for us to recognise the role we play in achieving progress towards gender equality and recognising females daily.
Here at Phoenix, we are proud to have many incredible women part of the team who do amazing work and contribute to the success of Phoenix.
With this, we are excited to get to know Kayleigh Wise our SHEQ Manager, who has given us insight into her role in the construction industry!
How long have you been at Phoenix, and what is your job role?
It will be coming up to 6 years this coming June, I’m a SHEQ Manager working mainly in the Northern Region.
Tell us what a typical day at Phoenix looks like for you?
My days are varied, some days I can be out on site and carrying out audits and inspections and other days I could be at my computer doing health, safety, environmental or quality documentation.
How did your career in the Construction Industry start?
It started when I took an interest in safety when working on cruise ships, I enjoyed the passenger safety side of my role and decided to enrol on a NEBOSH course.
I did some voluntary work for a wind turbine company, to begin with, I then secured a safety consultant role for a company that worked in the car automotive industry mainly for JLR. I then took the opportunity given to me by Phoenix and carried on with the NEBOSH Construction certification. I enjoy the fast pace of construction and its varied elements.
What advice would you give to women who are thinking about joining the Construction Industry?
I would say do it if you enjoy being outside, meeting lots of people and learning and experiencing new things. Construction has changed since I started but even more so this last year or so, I’m now seeing more female Engineers, Site Managers and Safety Managers out on site. I enjoy the Phoenix site teams who all bring laughter and funny quirky personalities, but most importantly how passionate they can be when talking about their bricklaying or drylining skills.
And finally, what does being part of #teamPhoenix mean to you?
I’m very passionate about my work and what I do, but I can see this in each department of the business. It’s refreshing to work within a company that promotes ideas and suggestions but also problem-solving as a whole. I think I’m very fortunate to learn from very experienced Directors and Site Managers but I must admit I have a brilliant mentor in the Head SHEQ Manager, so to me #teamPhoenix means one team, one dream.
