NEEDHAM Market-based BTS Group has struck gold at its first attempt to have the its health and safety practices recognised by accident prevention charity RoSPA.

BTS, which also has offices in Essex, Norfolk and Bedfordshire and has a total workforce of about 650, provides vegetation management and engineering support to electricity network distribution operators.

A sustained health and safety achievement has now seen it receive a Gold award from RoSPA, which is due to be presented at a ceremony in Birmingham next month.

BTS operates a rigorous system comprising safety policies and a co-ordinated programme of audits on workers in the field, carried out by trained safety advisors. Reports of risks, hazards and near- misses are used to review working policies and methods in partnership with those at work on the ground.

“We have made safety a behavioural matter,” said BTS managing director Halley McCallum. “The emphasis is away from books of rules and on to encouraging individuals to think about how to keep each other safe. We now have a culture that has been achieved through socialising safety.”

The proof of the success is in BTS Group’s health and safety record. BTS has operated for more than 400 days without a single person missing a day of work through injury. This equates to far more than a million hours worked without a day lost.

“We’re delighted to be receiving a Gold award,” Mr McCallum added. “However, we are even more pleased that our people go home at the end of a day and return in the morning. It’s gratifying that our commitment to their safety has been recognised by RoSPA”

David Rawlins, RoSPA’s awards manager, said: “RoSPA firmly believes that organisations that demonstrate commitment to continuous improvement in accident and ill health prevention deserve recognition. BTS Group has shown that it is committed to striving for such continuous improvement and we are delighted to honour it through the presentation of an award.”

RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) launched its awards programme 57 years ago. The scheme looks not only at accident records, but also entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, including important practices such as strong leadership and workforce involvement.