News
TOP UK SAFETY HONOUR FOR NORTHERN RAIL
19th May 2009
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Northern has been named winner of the prestigious Sir George Earle Trophy at this year’s RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) Occupational Health and Safety Awards.
We beat off strong competition from organisations across a wide range of industries to win the Sir George Earle Trophy, which is awarded for achieving outstanding performance in occupational health and safety. Northern is the first train operator to win the prestigious trophy in its 53-year history.
Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, said: “The judging panel found that safety was at the very heart of Northern Rail’s values, and that strong leadership and the direct personal commitment of board members were matched by workforce involvement and partnership with trades unions and others.
“The award also recognises the company’s excellent approach to ensuring workforce competence and learning from business partners, its work in occupational health and its engagement with local communities, particularly young people.
“We offer our congratulations to Northern Rail for setting such a fine example through its comprehensive approach to the prevention of accidents and ill health.”
In its second success of the evening Northern Rail was awarded the Workforce Involvement In Safety and Health Trophy (WIS&H) for demonstrating the best involvement of employees in health and safety management. Northern was also named winner of the Transport, Storage and Distribution Sector award for 2009 and secured its second successive gold achievement award.
Heidi Mottram, Managing Director, Northern said: “These awards are fantastic recognition of the hard work and effort put in by everyone across Northern Rail, in partnership with our trades union colleagues to ensure we are operating safely and demonstrate that our health and safety management practices are highly regarded as amongst the best in the UK.”
In another first for a UK train operator Northern Rail has recently achieved national certification standard British Standard BS OHSAS 18001 for its Safety Management Systems (SMS). OHSAS 18001 is the internationally recognised assessment specification for occupational health and safety management systems.
