Playing it safe scoops golden recognition
Ian Williams has cut its accident rate by 27
per cent, helping it to achieve the RoSPA gold award.
Ian Williams, which operates across the UK,
saw the number of incidents fall, after introducing a series of
measures to improve health and safety. The company’s 1,051
employees work in thousands of homes and public buildings across
the country, as well as on development sites. Regular jobs
requiring specific attention to health and safety include
electrical work, gas servicing, scaffolding erection and manual
lifting.
Innovative measures introduced to cut
accidents include an increase in safety training (75% of the
training budget), the adoption of a two tier approach to site and
scaffold inspections – including the use of a consultancy to
monitor standards - and a greater emphasis on health and safety
across all levels of the organisation which sees all accidents,
regardless of severity reported.
To qualify for the award Ian Williams had to
provide a wide range of evidence to show the organisation's
commitment to health and safety.
Richard Parry, safety, health and
environmental manager at Ian Williams, said: “Official statistics
show that every year in the UK there are about 350 fatalities
directly as a result of work, and over 36 million lost working
days.
“Our teams across the country spend
significant amounts of time in schools and homes carrying out major
improvement programmes and wide ranging repairs and maintenance
tasks, often including potentially hazardous electric and gas
servicing. It’s therefore critical for our clients, residents and
employees that we meet the highest levels of health and safety.
Achieving official recognition such as the Gold Award is
fantastic.”