Safety first

Commitment to health and safety on site has earned top awards for developer Redrow from two different independent bodies who share the same goals of reducing accidents and ill health in the workplace.

The UK housebuilder has scooped another esteemed International Safety Award from the British Safety Council and has also been given a second, consecutive Gold award in the prestigious RoSPA Occupational Health & Safety Awards for 2007.

The British Safety Council plaudit followed gruelling tests by a strict adjudicating panel. Only companies with below average accident rates are eligible to apply and winners must also have good safety policies, plans and commitment to health and safety at the highest level.

David Ballard, chief executive of the British Safety Council – one of the world’s leading training and advisory bodies - says: “Now in our 50th year, we have led the way in promoting health, safety and environmental best practice in society. In the 21st century many organisations worldwide are now making health and safety a top priority. Through achieving an International Safety Award, Redrow is helping to make our vision of a safe working environment a reality.”

The second safety sanction comes from RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents), whose awards manager David Rawlins says: “Redrow plc have demonstrated how seriously they take health and safety management and are a fine example to many other companies. We would like to see more organisations following their lead.”

The RoSPA awards are not just about reducing the number of accidents and cases of ill-health at work; they help to ensure that organisations have good health and safety management systems in place.

Redrow’s Health and Safety director Bob Sayers comments, “These latest successes are based on the over-riding principal that health and safety is integral to everything we do. From the building site right up to the boardroom, integrating good health and safety practice is paramount to all aspects of our business. However, we must never allow ourselves to become complacent and will continue to strive to improve our performance year-on-year.”

Not content with shouting out the safety message within the company, Redrow is also committed to taking it outside the organisation and into the communities in which it builds. To do this, Redrow has enlisted the help of Buster the Bear, a colourful mascot who spreads the word of caution to primary school children up and down the country.

Bob adds, “Buster has had great success in conveying the need for caution to youngsters who may be tempted to play on building sites. He visits primary schools with members of our health and safety team to help educate pupils and also hands out copies of his activity pack, which gets the key messages across in a fun and interesting way.”

Redrow builds around 5,000 new homes each year in England, Scotland and Wales. For details of new homes visit redrow.co.uk, which also includes a link to Redrow’s 2006 health & safety annual report. For details of Buster the Bear visit education.redrow.co.uk.