Builders’ merchant E H Smith is once again a winner at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Occupational Health and Safety Awards.
The company received a gold medal for achieving eight consecutive gold awards during a ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel last week (14 to 15 July).
RoSPA’s mission, which dates back 59 years, is to recognise commitment to continuous improvement in accident and ill health prevention at work. Judges consider entrants’ overarching occupational health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.
Organisations that maintain high standards in consecutive years can win gold medals, president’s awards and the highest honour, an Order of Distinction, something that EH Smith has now set its sights on.
Greg Crofts, EH Smith’s head of health and safety said: “Being presented with a gold medal for achieving a gold standard in health and safety eight years running is a fantastic achievement by the whole EH Smith team. However, we have no intention of stopping there. If you achieve more than 10 gold awards you are presented with the ‘Presidents Award’ – and then it’s on to the ‘Order of Distinction’ – the highest possible recognition of a firm’s commitment to health and safety.
“It will take us a few more years of maintaining excellence to get there, but it would be a magnificent achievement for our company and would put us alongside major brands like Esso, 3M, and Rolls Royce that have built global reputations on their commitment to health and safety in the workplace.”
David Rawlins, RoSPA’s awards manager, added: “The RoSPA Awards encourage improvement in occupational health and safety management. Organisations that gain recognition for their health and safety management systems, such as E H Smith, contribute to raising standards overall and we congratulate them.”
