Magnox Limited lifts RoSPA’s Sir George Earle Trophy

Magnox Limited has won the highest competitive accolade at the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2014.

It received the Sir George Earle Trophy at a ceremony in Birmingham last night.

The trophy was presented to Neil Baldwin, managing director at Magnox Limited, by Lord McKenzie of Luton, RoSPA president, and Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive. The firm also won the Construction Engineering Industry Sector and a MORR (management of occupational road risk) Gold achievement award.

Magnox Limited, which is responsible for managing nuclear sites through their lifecycles and overseeing all aspects of electricity generation, defuelling and decommissioning, was selected as the winner of the safety charity’s most prestigious competitive trophy because of its commitment to intensive training, especially around the core areas of behavioural safety and board level responsibility. Directors and senior managers spend quality time at all sites to enforce the message that they care about health, safety and welfare, giving the workforce a real opportunity to air views, whether positive or negative.

Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, said: “Magnox Limited has demonstrated outstanding performance and we were particularly impressed by the seamless co-operation between employees and contractors. Good working processes and practices were abundant, with Magnox acting on numerous ideas from the workforce, and this is why it is a worthy winner of the prestigious Sir George Earle Trophy.

“The firm’s passion to leave a legacy that is safe for individuals and the environment alike is truly inspiring. In an area that is highly regulated to ensure compliance, it was commendable to see the high level of commitment to the future care of sites long after de-commissioning has taken place.

“We offer our congratulations to all the staff and contractors associated with Magnox Limited who have contributed to its success in this year’s RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards.”

Neil Baldwin, Magnox Limited’s managing director, said: “Receiving the prestigious Sir George Earle Trophy, on top of the other awards we have received, is a real honour and recognises all the hard work that everyone associated with Magnox puts in to managing and improving health and safety performance. The RoSPA awards always have special significance because they recognise our level of performance compared with other companies in other industries.”

The presentation was made during the first of two banquets taking place from May 14-15 as part of the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2014.

This year, RoSPA is hosting awards ceremonies in three locations for the first time. The Birmingham awards will be followed by subsequent ceremonies taking place at ExCeL London on June 17 and at the Hilton Glasgow on September 17.

The awards programme, which is sponsored by NEBOSH (the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health), is the largest and longest-running occupational health and safety awards programme in the UK. It recognises organisations’ commitment to continuous improvement in the prevention of accidents and ill health at work, looking at entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.

This year, there were nearly 2,000 registered entries to the awards scheme, and judging is still ongoing for organisations hoping to receive an award at the RoSPA Scotland ceremony in Glasgow in September.

As the UK’s family safety charity, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has a history stretching back more than 97 years. Visit www.rospa.com/awards/ for more information about the awards. Details of other award winners will be announced tomorrow.