Risk reduction through design awards 2024/25

These awards aim to inspire employers to think about how changes to work can reduce the risks of harm to their workers. It’s open to all UK employers and is sponsored by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF).

Musculoskeletal disorders risk reduction through design awards

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) include injuries and conditions that can affect the back, joints and limbs. The awards are for companies that have made simple changes to their workplace, task or activities that have resulted in significantly reduced musculoskeletal risk to their employees.

This might include a reduction in lifting, pushing or pulling activities. It could mean removing the need for manual handling altogether, or a significant decrease in the need for awkward postures or the force needed to use equipment. Let's recognise your contribution to reducing risk!

Make a nomination for 2024/25

If you are an employer in the UK, and you have designed a solution to reduce musculoskeletal risks, nominate your design change for the risk reduction through design awards.

Any employer, whether large or small and from any sector or industry, can make a nomination.

Award categories

There are 2 categories for the awards:

Best overall MSD risk reduction through design award
Small to medium enterprise (SME) award

We recognise that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the fundamental backbone of the UK economy, employing over half of the countries’ workforce, and accounting for over 95% of private sector businesses. We want to recognise the hard work and dedication of UK SMEs and their approach to risk reduction, and help support other businesses, demonstrating what is possible.

SMEs are defined by the number of employees:

micro (1-9)
small (10-49)
medium (50-249)

How to enter 2024/25 MSDs design awards

We can only accept nominations from employers of the workers who benefit from the design changes. We cannot accept nominations from marketing companies, consultants or designers.

A maximum of 3 nominations per company will be accepted.

More information on how to enter and to download an entry form

What to include in the template for your nomination

Tell us how you have reduced the risk of MSDs for your workers. The template will assist in developing your nomination.

Your nomination should include:

a detailed description of the task or activity and workplace before you made the change
a description of the improvements in reducing the risk of MSDs after you made the design change
clear photographs showing how your workers carried out the activity before (if possible) and after the changes
a quote demonstrating what your workers think about the design change

Make sure you tell us:

if you designed the solution in-house, or if someone else helped you, tell us who they were and how they helped
what the impact of the design change is – how has MSD risk been reduced for your workers and how many workers are affected
about any other advantages of the design change, for example other health or safety benefits, productivity improvements or environmental benefits
how you involved your workers in the process

Closing date for nominations

The closing date for nominations is 31 January 2025.

Announcement of the 2025 winners

An independent judging panel will consider shortlisted nominations to select an overall winner.

HSE will use the winning entries as case studies which we will share as practical examples for other employers to understand how they can reduce risk in their workplaces.

Winners will be announced at the CIEHF awards event in April 2025.

2024 awards winners

The awards winners were announced on 23 April 2024 at the CIEHF Annual Conference.