Tarmac take top European honours for health and safety

Company’s West Region receives Good Practice Award from EU-OSHA for its Safe Maintenance programme

TARMAC have won European acclaim for their leading approach to health and safety at the European Good Practice Awards. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) presented the company’s West region with a Good Practice Award for its ‘Safe Maintenance’ programme.

The awards, which took place in Budapest, Hungary, on the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, saw Tarmac beat companies from 23 European Union countries to win one of eight Good Practice Awards.

In 2009 Tarmac launched their ‘Safe Maintenance’ programme across the 75 sites in their West region. The programme involved competence assessments and training plans for mechanical fitting staff, with the aim of eliminating safety incidents related to incorrect selection or use of tools by educating and changing behaviours.

The programme has already delivered a significant reduction in incidents and has increased plant availability, as well as further improving business performance and customer service levels.

At the awards ceremony, Tarmac representatives, including David McClelland, executive director for Tarmac West Region (pictured third from right), delivered a presentation to a 100-strong European delegation on Tarmac’s approach to delivering the Safe Maintenance programme.

Commenting on the award win, Mr McClelland, said: ‘This is a significant award which not only shows that our Safe Maintenance programme is at the forefront of the UK quarrying industry, but also leading European best practice. The initiative has been successful because it helps show that a competent workforce is also a safe workforce and that this also achieves an improved business performance.’

EU-OSHA was set up by the EU to help meet information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the organization aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.