Regional construction group Beard, which has a major office in Swindon, has been awarded the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ (RoSPA) prestigious Gold award for occupational health and safety in recognition of its ‘excellent’ safety record.
The accolade also celebrates Beard’s health-and-safety management systems and culture which includes effective leadership and workforce engagement and commitment.
The award was presented to the firm’s safety, health and environmental manager Martin Nash at a recent ceremony staged at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.
Mr Nash said it built on a five-year programme of initiatives which had reduced Beard’s accident incident rate by more than 45% despite the amount of time its teams spend on site rising by 37%.
“I’m delighted to accept this award on behalf of all our people whose hard work made this award possible, and who are totally committed to making Beard a healthy, safe and happy place to work.”
“Gaining a Gold is a significant achievement for Beard staff and our project teams who work in some of the most challenging construction environments.”
Beard staff work extensively in areas where health and safety planning is crucial to every project, but especially on projects in or near occupied environments such as schools and hospitals, with vulnerable people needing to access buildings.
The RoSPA Awards, which date back 58 years, recognise commitment to continuous improvement in accident and ill health prevention at work. Through the scheme, which is open to businesses and organisations of all types and sizes from across the UK and overseas, judges consider entrants’ overarching occupational health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.
RoSPA awards manager David Rawlins said: “The RoSPA Awards encourage the raising of occupational health and safety standards across the board. Organisations that gain recognition for their health and safety management systems such as Beard, contribute to a collective raising of the bar for other organisations to aspire to, and we offer them our congratulations.”
Family-owned Beard, which was established in 1892, also has offices in Oxford and Guildford. It undertakes design-and-build, new build, restoration and refurbishment projects from £50,000 to £10m for public and private sector organisations and has significant expertise in the healthcare, arts and culture, commerce and industry, education, elderly care, sports and leisure and defence sectors.
Pictured, from left: Beard safety manager Darren Lewis and safety, health and environmental manager Martin Nash with the RoSPA Gold award for occupational health and safety excellence
