Scottish Water wins national safety and health award

HSE Press Release: E033-04 24 March 2004

Scottish Water is the overall winner of the 2003 European Week for Safety and Health at Work awards, coming out on top in a field of nearly two thousand diverse organisations.

The focus of the campaign in 2003 was dangerous substances. Scottish Water's campaign raised awareness about the safe management of substances among all its staff, particularly higher risk groups and frontline workers.

Scottish Water integrated the Health and Safety Executive's free web tool Electronic COSHH Essentials into their intranet and launched their own complementary system. The judges decided that this entry was the best of a very strong field. The 13 national award winners included a paper manufacturer, a holiday park and two police forces.

Bill Callaghan, Chair of the Health and Safety Commission, said: "I warmly congratulate all the UK's winners of the 2003 European Week for Safety and Health at Work awards. I am particularly pleased at the way organisations across a wide range of sectors have made improvements that will help protect the health of their staff.

Every year, thousands of people are made ill through exposure to dangerous substances at work. Much of this is preventable. The awards demonstrate what can be achieved when commitment and creativity are brought to bear on the management of hazardous substances and occupational health in general."

The awards ceremony took place at the Royal College of Physicians, London on
23 March. The awards were presented by Des Browne, Minister of State for Work, Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, and Bill Callaghan.

Notes to editors

1. Des Browne and Bill Callaghan launched European Week on 8 October 2003. During the Week, HSE organised a number of events focusing on occupational asthma, skin disease and asbestos. The Week also produced an action pack and promoted the free internet tool, Electronic COSHH Essentials (www.coshh-essentials.org.uk).

2. More information about European Week for Safety and Health at Work is available from http://www.hse.gov.uk/campaigns/euroweek/main.htm. During the campaign, the web site received over 50,000 hits, almost double that received in 2002. Over 146,000 action packs were requested.

3. The 2003 award winners in full:

National Award Winners

Andrew Millar and Co. Ltd, Northern Ireland (Retail)
Balfour Beatty Construction Ltd, London
BFF Nonwovens Ltd, Somerset (Manufacturer)
Greggs Plc, Cumbria (Bakery Manufacturer and Retail)
MacLellan International Ltd, Worcestershire (Facilities Management)
Roche Vitamins UK Ltd, Derbyshire (Vitamins and Fine Chemicals)
SCA Packaging, Kent (Paper Manufacturer)
Scottish Water, Dunfermline
South Wales Police, Bridgend
South Yorkshire Police, Sheffield
Stockton Riverside College, Stockton on Tees (Further Education)
W Jordan (Cereals) Ltd, Bedfordshire (Food Manufacturer)

Best Small Business

Monkey Tree Holiday Park, Cornwall

Commended

Cumbria County Council
HJ Heinz Company

4. The European Week was first held in 1996 and has grown into a major campaign for health and safety at work. In 2003 over 1800 organisations entered for an award. The national winners represent the best of the 130 regional winners presented with awards in February.

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