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29 April 2011 - NR 30/11

Health and safety stalwarts honoured on International Workers' Memorial day

Unsung health and safety heroes from several Glasgow businesses were rewarded for their efforts to reduce the risk of injury and ill-health in his workplace, at an award ceremony last week (Thursday 28 April).

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) West of Scotland Branch held its annual Certificate of Merit awards at Hampden Park Stadium, Glasgow. It marked International Workers’ Memorial Day by celebrating the efforts of people who, despite not being health and safety experts, have created schemes or programmes that have reduced incidents of injury and ill-health in their workplace.

Branch chair Fraser Allan awarded four employees from City Building (Glasgow) LLP, two from CBES Ltd and one each from George Leslie Ltd Civil Engineering Contractors and City FM Ltd.

Fraser said: “As a Branch, we think it’s important to recognise the achievements of people who, although not health and safety professionals themselves, have made an outstanding contribution to health and safety in their place of work and to those colleagues working there.

“Some of them have gone way beyond the call of duty, some of them have employed innovative ways of thinking to protect colleagues, some have intuitively spotted procedures they needed to put in place – they are all worthy of receiving our Certificate of Merit.”

The chair encouraged winners to maintain their work, and added: “Our businesses and organisations need people who don’t see health and safety as cumbersome or restraining, but people who see it as simply a necessary part of day-to-day life.”

City Building managing director Willie Docherty said: “As one of Scotland’s largest construction companies, health and safety is our number one priority.

“We place great importance on training all our staff and our 2,000 employees regularly go that extra mile in implementing best practice on site. I am delighted that such dedication and innovation has been recognised by IOSH”.

The awards formed part of the IOSH West of Scotland Branch AGM and annual dinner, which set the course for the year ahead.

The winners of the Certificates of Merit were:

City Building LLP

George Maclauchlan, SVQ training instructor at City Building Queenslie Training Centre, delivers courses to trainees and other staff within the company. He developed a system of monitoring and checking harnesses and lanyards.
Les Turner, facilities manager, looks after the business’ head office, training facilities and outlying office areas. He is also involved with setting up temporary sites.
Robert Baillie, contracts manager within the company’s kitchen, bathroom and rewire section. His work involves a five-day turnaround with up to 25 projects running at one time, which has complex safety implications.
William Wright, general labourer, has been employed with the company since 1979. He carries out store man duties and is also the trained on-site banksman and traffic marshall, fire warden and face fit assessor.

CBES Limited

Martin Coyle, approved electrician, has worked on a key energy saving project, managing several small sites that have had to remain open to the public, which adds to the complexity of his work.
Stephen Moss, mechanical engineer/supervisor, plays an integral role within the site management team, monitoring the CBES safety management system. He also reviews method statements and risk assessments, to make sure every process is safe and healthy for staff.

City FM Ltd

Doug Thomson, national account manager, who manages a team of 30 that maintain petrol filling stations. He recently received a Global Alliance highly commended award and an average 98 per cent score across 38 inspections.

George Leslie Ltd

Michael McKeon, site agent, has managed significant civil engineering projects including Kallin Harbour, North Uist Pier/Breakwater, Barra Water Treatment Works. In all of the above projects he had no reportable incidents over more than 100,000 working hours.

- Ends -

Notes for editors:

IOSH is the Chartered body for health and safety professionals. With more than 40,000 members in 85 countries, we’re the world’s biggest professional health and safety organisation.

We set standards, and support, develop and connect our members with resources, guidance, events and training. We’re the voice of the profession, and campaign on issues that affect millions of working people.

IOSH was founded in 1945 and is a registered charity with international NGO status.