Posted By Alexander Falconer Hi All Here is something to get your teeth round - I am currently researching for a professional paper(and hope to get published at some point in the future) and would appreciate some assistance to the folloiwing questions - "Given the number of awards available, RoSPA, British Safety Council, VIBES, BCE etc, What are your opinions on the range of business awards available for Environment & Health and Safety" "What benefits have they brought to your company (and your own career)" As one who has won many awards over the years, I have my own opinions, but would appreciate others. Regards Alex

Posted By Philip McAleenan Alex, My company has won a couple of awards for our work on safety. The first, a number of years ago was an e-commerce award for our primary health & safety website, and though not specifically a safety award, it none the less was an important one to achieve as it confirmed for us that the on-line B2B that we had adopted was the right one. As a result we have safety professionals around the world using the site with an average of 2,000 hits per day. More recently, we have been notified that we are to be awarded the International Social Security Association Construction Section IMHOTEP award for innovative preventative practice in health and safety. This is for a new model for safety management and associated software that we have developed. It is too soon yet to say what benefits this will bring my company, but again winning an award such as this affirms publicly the correctness of the model we have developed and, being an international award, recognises that what we are doing goes beyond simple statutory compliance within one particular jurisdiction. The objective of the IMHOTEP awards is to promote good preventative practice and this I fully support. Quite often business awards measure success by the profitability or turnover of a company, but in the field of OSH & E it is important that there be channels for the promotion of innovation and success in achieving a safer workplace. There are critics of these awards schemes, and sometimes the criticism is about who gets the award rather than the scheme itself, but in general I think that the have a role to play. Last year I attended an induction ceremony for the Safety & Health Hall of Fame International, in which at least one IOSH member has his bronze mugshot on the wall, (good on you Allan), and met with some excellent practitioners. The craic was great but just as importantly was the opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas with other innovators in the days that followed. As a company we are still in communication with those we met and have been able to implement new features to our safety programs. We trust that in the long run this experience will add to the safety of workplaces as well as being commercially successful. Good luck on your paper, which I would be keen to read when you publish it. Contact me by e-mail if you wish to discuss further, or indeed, in the spirit of promoting good preventative practice, anyone who wishes to have a copy of the OAC model that got us this award, e-mail me directly, Regards, Philip

Posted By Dave Wilson Didnt read the post properly mate, no offence taken but do not want to hijack your thread but in reality I really do think that its all very well for FTSE companies etc to get these business awards etc but Ciarrian is for (If I am reading this correctly) developing an IT platform, how does that help me in safety he's selling a product/service just like anyone else.(Obviously a good one, I think! got an award for so must be good!)(No offence mate) The vast majority of SME's in the UK do not give a jot about these types of awards, in my opinion. "A good system if implemented properly, empowered and owned by the employees themselves can be used as a very effective business management tool to constantly identify your company's strengths and weaknesses. This in turn will assist you greatly in continually improving your processes, and services, as well as becoming more a more effective and efficient operation" Implemented properly, employee empowerment etc good Phd speak but working for a small company with a modest turnover, my MD wants to know how can this make me money? and how much is it going to cost? whats the return? SWAT analysis!! How much can I charge for this job and win the contract and make a profit is all that really matters, thats the same for a one man band or any large conglomerate. We have loads of Charter Marks, FMB, trade association etc etc logos UKAS etc Worth anything? Doubt it? the majority of the people who ask me for proof of our SMS have no idea of what they are asking for or why, they have been told by a H&S bod either, in house or consultant for what to ask, and most have plagarised each question or read the same script. We have these cos others in our industry have them, for no other reason. We spend in excess of £10k pa on being verified, competent etc just to get on an 'approved list' and may on the off chance get an invitation to tender etc Adding 5* from ROSPA - no benefit at all for us, thats just paying someone to audit us, usually by email!!!!!. I even know of large construction company who just change the dates and figures on documentation to get this annually, site visits unannounced! Any way bleat over from me, sorry cant help butit got soemthing out of my system which is really bugs me.

Posted By Alexander Falconer Jim Your comments certainly mirror Dave's and I am not disputing them, either. As I said before management systems can be worth their weight in gold, on the other hand, as a previous mentor stated, if you produce crap, you can be accredited to supplying crap. Remember the ISO 9000 & 14000 series standards have since been revised to eliminate the opportunity to be accredited to supply crap. So, as one who has continually implemented management systems, I still stand by my comments that these can be a useful tool to benchmark your operations. Getting back to the question in hand, re: awards, I will make it clearer so practitioners understand what I am looking for - There are two types, certification awards (ISO 9000, 14000, 18000, BSC 5 star audits, RoSPA audits, etc, etc) and Business Awards (ViBES, Green Apple, BSC Sword of Honour, Local Business Awards, RoSPA Sir George Earl Trophy, etc, etc) I am looking to assess what benefits people have gained from the latter, not the certification awards. At the risk of sounding slightly standoffish here (I don't mean to be), I suppose Jim & Dave who although maybe have success in implementing management systems to successful accreditation (good on them), have probably never won a business award in their life, or have they? I would appreciate if readers please stick to the topic in question, in order I can have some research material. A

Posted By Alexander Falconer At last someone who understands what I am talking about, nice one Pete! Good luck with your appraisal & your chat with the MD. Hopefully being shortlisted has gave you an insight to go one better next time. Been there and done it, 2005 was my most successful year, 1 safety award & 3 Environmental Award submission - result 1 safety award winner (British Safety Council), and 2 environmental award winner trophies (Vibes regional & national winner large business, and Green apple silver award Food & Drink), the 3rd was shortlisted, and I departed (due to personal reasons)before the judging ceremony took place prior to christmas, results are due sometime in Feb, so I will be watching that particular website (BCE awards) with interest. Drop me a line anytime you want, we can always exchange ideas and info that will benefit both our companies (including my new one) Regards A

Posted By Dave Wilson Alexander, I am not disputing what you say and do agree with most of it, however what I am trying to say is that I have experience of a Very large FTSE 100 company as Head of HS&E and am now working for a SME in the Asbestos Industry. With the former with larger resources and Shareholders then these can be a very worthwhile tool but as intimated its 'Marketing' 'Good P$' with my new company of only 160 employees agaist 60,000 with the FTSE I find that its the Folding Green stuff which both are interested in but my MD would never be the subject of a question in the house but my last CEO and Chairman were. Will it make my organsiation safer? Dont know but I have a greater degree of optimism about our people than previously. Sword of Honour looks good in the foyer of a conglomerate HQ but in our offices!!!