Housing Association Leads The Way After Securing A Prestigious RoSPA Safety Award

A housing association covering east Staffordshire and south Derbyshire has secured a top health and safety award in recognition of its high standards.

Trent and Dove Housing committed itself to a three-year stringent action plan launched on the back of recommendations set by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in 2009.

It led to changes to the organisation’s health and safety management systems and the development of its internal audit procedures.

In recognition of the efforts made, RoSPA has presented the housing association with a Platinum award – the second highest level in the accident prevention charity’s Quality Safety Audit (QSA) award scheme, which rewards health and safety management improvements and helps organisations to boost workplace safety.

Anna Hickman, health and safety adviser at Trent and Dove Housing, said: “The benchmark against similar organisations provided by RoSPA’s QSA has been invaluable to us, and achieving Platinum (Level 4) has been a real boost to our confidence that we are making the right steps forward.”

Trent and Dove Housing provide affordable housing for rent and part (shared) ownership. It offers homes for families, younger people, and older people and for those with special needs.

Frances Richardson, director of operations at RoSPA, said: “Congratulations to Trent and Dove Housing on achieving a truly significant Level 4 QSA Award. To improve from a Level 1 to a Level 4 in just three years represents much hard work and commitment from all involved and pays special testament to the drive and enthusiasm of the organisation’s health and safety adviser.

“During our audit, we found morale to be high at Trent and Dove Housing with colleagues embracing safe working practices across all sites. No other housing association has achieved higher than a Level 4 in these awards so they should be extremely proud of their achievements.”

The RoSPA website includes more information on its Quality Safety Audit.