RoSPA Press Office : Press ReleaseMay 18, 2005 A record 1,300 businesses and organisations will be honoured in the annual RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards being presented today and tomorrow (May 18 and 19). Most of the winners are from the UK, but the scheme has attracted entries from nearly 40 companies based overseas. Global building solutions company CEMEX*, which recently acquired RMC Group, sponsors the awards. John Howard, RoSPA Chief Executive, said: “The awards are designed to help managers raise the profile of good health and safety practice in their organisations by celebrating their successful track record. They examine whether the employer has a good safety management system in place as well as a good safety record.” The main body of awards – gold, silver, bronze and merit – are for achievement over a set numbers of years. One year for merit, rising to four for gold. Substantial achievement over a longer period can result in Gold Medal, President’s and Order of Distinction awards. This year there are 13 Orders of Distinction, 67 President’s Awards, 221 Gold Medals, 612 Gold Awards, 204 Silver, 88 Bronze and 74 Merit. Applicants may also enter for sector awards, which are competitive and honour the best businesses and organisations in 18 different sectors. From these, an independent awards panel chooses the overall winner of RoSPA’s premier award, the Sir George Earle Trophy. This year the Sir George Earle Trophy has gone to Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) Bahrain, which also won the Chemical Industry Sector. The Norwich Union Trophy for small and medium-sized businesses has been won by Dee Tech Services, Flintshire. The Astor Trophy, for the company with the best-managed occupational health programme, has been awarded to RWE npower, Swindon, Wilts. The RoSPA Occupational Training Award, for the company or organisation with the most effectively managed health and safety training programme, has gone to MacLellan International Limited, Redditch, Worcs. Planned Maintenance Engineering Limited, Battersea, have won RoSPA’s new award for Managing Occupational Road Risk. The awards are presented at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole, NEC, and run alongside RoSPA’s Occupational Safety and Health at Work Congress, sponsored by EDF Energy. Some of the awards will be presented at RoSPA Scotland in September. *CEMEX is the third largest cement company, largest ready mix provider and fourth largest aggregates company in the world. With its recent acquisition of RMC Group, CEMEX now has a national supply network in the UK with over 600 locations, to ensure that a range of quality building materials is available to customers locally. For more information, see www.CEMEX.co.uk |