CANARY WHARF GROUP SCOOPS TOP PRIZE IN EURO WEEK SAFETY AND HEALTH AWARDS

HSE Press Release E045:03 - 21 March 2003

London's Canary Wharf Group has beaten all other finalists in the European Week for Safety and Health Awards to be named 'Winner of Winners'.

The property management company was one of 26 organisations from throughout the UK to receive national awards at Cardiff City Hall on Thursday night for their campaigns to highlight workplace stress. Judges decided the Canary Wharf Group entry was the best of all and presented them with the overall trophy.

Thousands of organisations took part in the annual Week, which happens every October and is promoted in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The national winners represent the best of the 166 regional winners who were presented with awards in February. Promoted in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) the event culminates in a series of regional awards, followed by the national ceremony.

Helping to present the awards was Paralympic athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson, OBE, who said: "I am delighted to be associated with the Week and I would like to offer my congratulations to all the winners. It's so encouraging to hear about the fantastic efforts made by all the participants - whether they won awards or not. As I have found from personal experience, awards and medals are great but it's the taking part and giving it your best shot that really counts.

"The workplace - whether it's an athletic track or a shop floor - can be a hugely stressful place and anything which can reduce needless stress has to be a good thing!"

HSE is looking to develop management standards for handling stress in the workplace. It will be evaluating some of the winning entries in relation to their stress management policies which could be used in the future as examples of excellence in this field.


Among those participating in the campaign was Potley Hill Primary School in Hampshire who invited their pupils to define stress in a poetic style. HSE has published some of the results on its website. An example is attached.

Notes to editors

1. The first European Week was held in 1996 and has since grown into one of the UK's biggest workplace health and safety initiatives.

2. This year's event starts on 13 October and its theme will be 'Dangerous Substances'. An action pack will be available from HSE after 20 May 2003.

3. HSE's European Week website is at:http://www.hse.gov.uk/euroweek

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