BSW Timber scoops international health and safety RoSPA accolade

BSW Timber has received international recognition for its commitment to health and safety after scooping a gold award at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Health and Safety Awards.

The RoSPA Health and Safety Awards is the largest occupational health and safety awards programme in the UK and the accolade acknowledges the hard work going on behind the scenes at BSW Timber to ensure employee safety.

A new auditing system was developed and built by the firm’s ESH team with a view to putting more focus on legislative requirements and Approved Codes of Practice (ACoP) compliance across BSW Timber’s sawmills. The audits were able to identify procedural weaknesses which resulted in group procedures and technical references being updated or rewritten and making roles and responsibilities clearer.

Additionally, improved communication, co-ordination and co-operation between the mill teams has resulted in a more focussed scrutiny of ESH KPIs for the betterment of the entire BSW Timber team.

Wayne Jones, BSW Group’s ESH Manager, said: “We are delighted to have achieved this award on behalf of the company. It is testimony to the hard work and ambitions of the senior management, ESH and sawmilling teams to improve our performance in reducing risk to employees and liability to the company. We look forward to continuing to build on our initial success and generate even better standards to demonstrate our position as market leaders in our industry.

“Our commitment to ensuring efficient operations is centred around the safety of our workforce. This is underpinned by our drive to reduce risk and liability, which in turn reduces accidents, employee absence and staff turnover. We believe the RoSPA award provides an improved reputation among suppliers and partners, as well as increasing productivity and profitability, but most importantly, employees are safer, healthier and better motivated.”

The RoSPA programme recognises organisations’ commitment to continuous improvement in the prevention of accidents and ill health at work, looking at entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

Julia Small, RoSPA’s Achievements Director, said: “Accidents at work and work-related ill health don’t just have huge financial implications or cause major disruption – they significantly impact an individual’s quality of life. That’s why good safety performance deserves to be recognised and rewarded.

“We are thrilled that BSW Timber has won a RoSPA Award and would like to congratulate them on showing an unwavering commitment to keeping their employees, clients and customers safe from accidental harm and injury.”

The RoSPA Awards scheme is the longest running of its kind in the UK, and receives entries from organisations across the globe, making it one of the most sought-after achievement awards for the health and safety industry. To find out more about BSW Timber, visit www.bsw.co.uk