Construction Celebrates Success In Safety Charity's Awards Scheme

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has presented health and safety awards to more than 700 construction firms, including Balfour Beatty Construction Scottish and Southern Ltd, which won the safety charity’s highest accolade.

In addition to receiving RoSPA’s top award - the Sir George Earle Trophy - Balfour Beatty Construction Scottish and Southern Ltd, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh, won the Construction Industry Sector Award. Morrison Utility Services, of Arlesey, was highly commended in this sector, and Giffen Group Limited, of St Albans, and Enpure Limited, of Birmingham, were commended.

The Housebuilding and Property Development Sector Award was won by Tiong Seng Contractors (Pte) Ltd, of Singapore, with Frank Haslam Milan West Midlands, of Coleshill, and Frank Haslam Milan NE Ltd, of Sunderland, being commended.

The Engineering Construction Industry Sector Award was won by Studsvik UK Limited, of Gateshead, with BAM Nuttall Ltd, of Camberley, being highly commended, and Colas Limited, of Crawley, being commended. Colas Limited was also highly commended in the Managing Occupational Road Risk category.

A new award introduced for 2011 - the SME Assistance Trophy, sponsored by BHSF - was presented to the British Constructional Steelwork Association Ltd, in recognition of the best contribution by a trade association or similar body assisting small and medium-sized firms with health and safety.

Park Health, the occupational health function of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games construction project, won the Astor Trophy, which is presented for occupational health management. Park Health is a joint venture between Sypol Ltd and Duradiamond Healthcare.

Other successful firms included CEMEX UK Materials Limited - Southern Readymix, of Thorpe, which won the Mining and Quarrying Sector Award, CEMEX UK Materials Limited - Southern Aggregates, of Thorpe, which was commended in the Mining and Quarrying Sector, and CEMEX UK Operations Ltd - Logistics, of South Ferriby, which was commended in the Managing Occupational Road Risk category.

Tom Mullarkey, chief executive of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), said: “Balfour Beatty Construction Scottish and Southern has put down a solid benchmark for accident and ill health prevention that we hope other firms will strive to achieve. The company’s overall approach to health and safety is not to punish or stigmatise, but to encourage behaviour change by entering into dialogue with workers and also by celebrating success. Being the recipient of this year’s Sir George Earle Trophy is worthy of such celebration and we offer our congratulations to everyone at the firm, and indeed to all our award winners.

“RoSPA award winners from all parts of the construction industry should be very proud of their achievements. Not only do our awards provide well-deserved recognition for the winners, but they also encourage other organisations to raise their standards of accident and ill health prevention.”

Bob Clark, managing director, Balfour Beatty Construction Scottish and Southern, said: “We are delighted to have received such a prestigious award as the Sir George Earle Trophy. The award recognises the ongoing effort, commitment and engagement of our employees in promoting a safe working culture.”

With some entries still to be judged, the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2011 are on course to match last year’s record-breaking total of more than 1,750 winners from the UK and overseas. This is the 55th year in which RoSPA, an accident prevention charity with a 94-year history, has presented awards for occupational health and safety management.

Most of the winners were presented with their awards during three days of ceremonies at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel earlier this week (May 17-19).

The RoSPA Awards, the majority of which are non-competitive, look not only at accident records, but also entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, recognising important practices such as strong leadership and workforce involvement.

Competitive awards are presented in more than 20 sectors and specialist awards recognise excellence in specific areas, such as the management of occupational road risk.

The RoSPA Awards 2011 were sponsored by NEBOSH - the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health. Visit www.rospa.com/awards/ for more information about the RoSPA Awards.

Registered Charity, No. 207823 and a company limited by guarantee registered in England, No. 231435. Registered Office: RoSPA House, 28 Calthorpe Road, Birmingham, B15 1RP.