RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
February 19, 2002
SMALL FIRMS ARE SAFETY WINNERS
Safety-conscious companies from Wolverhampton, Slough and Fort William have been presented with a prestigious award by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and the Esso Petroleum Company Ltd.
The three winners of the RoSPA/Esso Scholarship attended a ceremony at the House of Lords yesterday. They were: Donald McGregor, Managing Director of the Underwater Centre, Fort William; Malcolm North, Health and Safety Co-ordinator of Wolverhampton steel firm, Fellows; and Alan Hunt, a Leading Plant Operator for Slough Heat and Power.
The scholarship is entirely funded by Esso, and was set up to help individuals in small companies with little or no safety expertise.
It consists of a 10-day RoSPA-organised National General Certificate in Occupational Safety and Health course, concluding with the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health examination.
The winners of the scholarship submitted a 500-word essay, explaining how and why the training would be beneficial to their company.
Alan Whitehead, Health and Safety Minister at the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, made the presentations at the House of Lords.
John Howard, RoSPA Director of Safety Policy, said that helping small firms to improve their approach to health and safety issues was an essential priority as 90 per cent of all firms employed fewer that 50 people.
Health and safety expertise was heavily concentrated in larger companies. Ways had to be found to unlock this knowledge and good practice to provide support for smaller firms.
“The vast majority of small businesses are involved in a real economic struggle for survival,” he said. “We need to be as non-bureaucratic as possible and find positive means to encourage each business to generate its own simple ‘health and safety action plan’ in its own way.”
For details of the 2002 scholarship, contact David Walker, RoSPA Awards Manager, 0121 248 2091, e-mail dwalker@rospa.com.
