Morrison Utility Services and the Berkeley Group land the top honours at the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards

Infrastructure services company Morrison Utility Services has been presented with the top prize at the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards 2020.

The company, which works to repair, renew, refurbish and maintain infrastructure in a range of utility sectors, won the Sir George Earle Trophy, the highest honour that the RoSPA Awards can bestow, by demonstrating excellence in health and safety management and commitment to continuous improvement and employee development.

Winning a RoSPA Award is internationally-renowned as the pinnacle in health and safety achievement. Now into its 64th year, and with a reach of 7 million employees in 42 countries, the scheme welcomes nearly 2,000 entrants from across a range of different sectors.

Morrison Utility Services – which was invited to compete for the trophy winning in the Construction Commercial Industry Sector – is now in an exclusive group of companies to win it twice.

The judges praised the company’s focus on its people and their occupational health, demonstrated through its prioritisation of vulnerable workers and the management of fatigue. Its approach to employee development was particularly noteworthy, as was its leadership within its wider sector.

Competition for the trophy was particularly tough this year, with Berkeley St Edward being Highly Commended, and EMCOR UK at AWE being Commended.

RoSPA chief executive Errol Taylor said: “We had a very difficult decision to make in judging this year’s Sir George Earle Trophy, as we had three excellent finalists, so Morrison Utility Services deserves huge congratulations in being named winner, especially as this is the second time it has won.

“Every year we are delighted to see some really amazing work being delivered by our health and safety colleagues around the world, and 2020 has been no exception. In such a challenging year for our profession, it’s marvellous to be able to celebrate everything our industry has achieved in keeping our employees free from harm, so that they can return to their loved ones safe and well at the end of every working day.”

Morrison Utility Services safety, health, environment and quality director Paul Kerridge said: “The RoSPA Awards are the most highly regarded in the field of health and safety and it is a fantastic achievement for our organisation and our people to have been awarded the Sir George Earle Trophy, RoSPA’s highest accolade, for a second occasion. The award underlines our commitment to accident and ill health prevention and sets the benchmark for the health and safety standards that we must maintain as we continue to evolve as a business.”

Tristan Charles, divisional head of health and safety for Berkeley St Edward, which was Highly Commended by judges, said: “We are delighted to be awarded the Construction Housebuilding and Property Development Sector Award and for being Highly Commended in the Sir George Earle Trophy at the RoSPA Awards this year. This has been achieved through the hard work of all Berkeley St Edward’s employees and our contractors.”

And Keith Chanter, CEO of EMCOR UK, which was Commended, said: “We are incredibly proud to have received our fourth consecutive Facilities Management Sector award for our work with AWE. This is in addition to the team also being Commended for the Sir George Earle Trophy at this year’s awards. These two accolades showcase the fantastic efforts of the combined AWE and EMCOR UK team in their continued approach to collaborative health and safety. They also reflect our sustained focus on the health, safety and wellbeing of all those we work with in support of our purpose of achieving a better world at work.”

This year also sees the rare Diamond Award presented to Berkeley Group, in recognition of its outstanding corporate contribution to raising standards across the residential building sector. The prestigious award, which was last presented in 2012, specifically recognises projects which set a new standard against which others should be measured.

Berkeley Group has built on its impressive track record (which includes five consecutive sector awards) to drive forward safety standards across the sector as a whole, offering a model for all higher-performing entrants to emulate. This includes the development of Safer by design, a ground-breaking framework for the design of new homes which has the often over-looked issue of residents’ safety in mind, giving people the opportunity to enjoy safer lives in their new homes.

The awards programme, which is sponsored by NEBOSH (the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health), is the largest occupational health and safety awards programme in the UK. It recognises organisations’ commitment to continuous improvement in the prevention of accidents and ill health at work, looking at entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

While the majority of awards are non-competitive – recognising individual organisations’ achievements – competitive awards are presented in 20 industry sectors and for specialist areas of health and safety management.

The industry sector award winners in the RoSPA Awards 2020 are: Commercial and Business Services – L’Oréal – Administrative site, Brazil; Construction – Commercial, sponsored by QBE Insurance Group – Morrison Utility Services; Construction Engineering Industry – Trant Engineering; Construction, Housebuilding and Property Development – Berkeley St Edward; Education and Training Services – South and City College Birmingham; Electricity – Qatar Power Company – Doha Qatar; Engineering Services – Vanderlande Industries UK Ltd; Facilities Management – EMCOR UK at AWE; Healthcare Services – Barchester Healthcare; International Sector Award, sponsored by airsweb – Rotary Engineering Pte Ltd; Oil and Gas – Wales and West Utilities; Public Service and Local Government – Department for Work and Pensions; Research and Development – NSG Environmental Ltd.

The specialist award winners in the RoSPA Awards 2020 are: Best New Entry, sponsored by Arco – University of Exeter Grounds Team (UK Award) and Ashghal Public Work Authority – Mott MacDonald Ltd HBK PORR (Middle East Award); Fleet Safety Technology Trophy, sponsored by Tesco Dotcom – Colas Limited; Fleet Safety Trophy – Eurovia UK; Fleet Safety Trophy – Middle East – Emirates Driving Institute; Health at Work Award, sponsored by Safety & Health Expo – Department for Work and Pensions; International Dilmun Environmental Award, sponsored by GPIC – Firmenich; International Sector Award, sponsored by Airsweb – Rotary Engineering Pte; Leisure Safety Trophy, sponsored by Sportscover – Nottingham City Council – Sport and Leisure; Safe@Work, Safe@Home Trophy, sponsored by L’Oreal – Anglian Water Services Ltd; Scotland Trophy – Expro International Group Limited; and the Workforce Involvement in Safety and Health Trophy, sponsored by Springfields Fuels Ltd – TMJ Interiors.

Each year, individuals and teams are also honoured as part of the Inspiration Awards. Recipients this year included: Distinguished Service Award – Kevin Peart, Krishna Nirmalaya Sen, Haizlin Sulaiman and David Wallace; Influencer – Kinga Cofor from Laing O’Rourke (Europe) Manchester Airport Transformation Project, Eugene Mayne from Tristar Transport, Roshan Menon and Tony Sembi from Emirates Group Transport Services, James Picot from LKL Relief Services Ltd, Matthew Schofield from Daniel Thwaites PLC – Hotels, Inns and Managed Properties, Jay Vekaria from Visa Europe, and Neil Yeomans from Orbit; Initiative of the Year (Middle East) – Stay Safe Together, from WSP in the Middle East; Initiative of the Year (UK) – Thinksafe Project from Amey Rail; Team of the Year (Corporate) – L’Oréal Corporate Health and Safety Team; Team of the Year (Middle East) – Emirates Group Transport Services; Team of the Year (South Asia) – Larsen and Toubro Construction Ltd – EDFC – CP-204 Railway SBG, EHS Team; Team of the Year (South East Asia) – Santarli Construction Pte Ltd; Team of the Year (UK) – Wills Bros Civil Engineering; Pride – Tyley Boozer, Brett Southgate and Seb Ward from Highway Care, Chris Evans from Granada Material Handling, Elizabeth Hurrell from BAE Systems, Nick Ireland from RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders, Shamnad Muneer from Tristar, and Paul and Aggy O’Brien from Godiva Thameslink.

The RoSPA Awards 2021 opens for registration on Thursday, October 1, on www.rospa.com/awards