Morrison Utility Services lifts RoSPA’s Sir George Earle Trophy

Morrison Utility Services has won the highest competitive accolade at the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2013.

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

The trophy was presented to Paul Kerridge, safety, health, environment and quality director at Morrison Utility Services, by Lord Jordan of Bournville, RoSPA president, and Errol Taylor, RoSPA deputy chief executive. The firm also won the Construction Commercial Industry Sector.

Morrison Utility Services, which works with utility company clients in the electricity, gas, water and telecommunications sectors, was selected as the winner of the safety charity’s most prestigious competitive trophy because of its outstanding performance in reducing injuries among its staff and contractors, underpinned by a positive health and safety culture, led personally by directors and managers, who involved the workforce and together sought to learn from accidents and incidents.

Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, said: “Morrison Utility Services has demonstrated outstanding performance in reducing injuries among its staff and contractors and this is why it is a worthy winner of the prestigious Sir George Earle Trophy.

“The firm’s energetic and innovative approach to the leadership of health and safety, its approach to workforce involvement and the way in which it has sought to learn from accidents and incidents has now received international recognition as a result of winning Britain’s top competitive award for health and safety management.

“We were particularly impressed with the firm’s continuing efforts to promote better health among its employees and felt that in so doing, it now stands as a shining example to the rest of the construction sector. We offer our congratulations to all the staff and contractors associated with Morrison Utility Services who have contributed to its success in this year’s RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards.”

Charles Morrison, chief executive of Morrison Utility Services, said: “We are delighted to be named as the winner of the 2013 Sir George Earle Trophy. Heralded as the pinnacle of the RoSPA awards scheme, the Sir George Earle Trophy is internationally recognised as the premier performance award for occupational health and safety.

“Safety must always be our number one priority and keeping that message at the forefront of everyone’s mind is vital. From senior management through to field operative, our approach is to foster a culture of safe behaviour right across our business. However, we understand that there can be no room for complacency in keeping our people safe, and our aim now will be to ensure a continued commitment to strong and unwavering health and safety leadership across the business.”

The presentation was made during the second of three banquets taking place from May 14-16 as part of the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2013. 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 not just at accident records, but also entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems.

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

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is a safety charity with a history stretching back 97 years. Visit www.rospa.com/awards/ for more information about the awards. Details of other award winners will be announced tomorrow.