WILTON INTERNATIONAL MAINTAINS WORLD CLASS SITE SAFETY REPUTATION

The Wilton International manufacturing site has been granted a prestigious safety accolade for the second time.

The British Safety Council has granted the site its Five Star Safety Award following an extensive examination of health and safety management systems.

The council is the UK’s leading independent organisation devoted to health and safety in the workplace, with a worldwide reputation for encouraging best practice.

In 2003, Wilton became the first multi-company site to achieve ‘Five Star’ status and remains so today.

The reaccreditation follows a major audit held on Teesside in May in which the safety practices and procedures of the seven major companies on the site were examined in detail. The auditors checked that recognised safe systems of work were being applied and that individual employees and contractors were following them.

Felix O’Hare, a site director representing the seven companies, said: “This is a tremendous achievement not only for the site as a whole - which improved on its safety rating from 2003 - but also for each individual company, because each achieved its own Five Star rating.”

He added: “To be granted ‘Five Star’ status is a wonderful recognition of everyone’s efforts and also a reflection of the level of cooperation between all the companies on site. It is a clear, independent demonstration to our neighbours that as a multi company site we are now taking safety to a new level.”

The seven major site companies at Wilton are ADVANSA, Dow, Huntsman, INVISTA, pxlimited, Sembcorp Utilities UK and Uniqema.

Together they employ a total of around 3,000 people and engage the services of a similar number of contractors on a regular basis.

Now the site intends to compete for the BSC’s coveted Sword of Honour.

The ‘Sword’ is widely regarded as the absolute pinnacle of workplace safety worldwide. All organisations gaining Five Stars are eligible to apply although it is it is granted to only 40 companies each year.

The picture shows safety managers from a selection of the Wilton companies receiving their individual Five Star Awards at a ceremony in London. Left to right - Louise Russell (pxlimited), Kris Boag (Dow) David Ballard (BSC) Alex Burniston (Uniqema) Mike Rogers (Huntsman) and Adrian Parker (Sembcorp Utilities UK).

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Notes to Editors: The BSC process helps organisations reduce accidents and improve productivity. Every year around 160,000 people are forced to give up work due to long-term illness or disability. This amounts to 25 million working days in the UK each year and costs British industry �18 billion.

The BSC awards organisations star ratings – from one to five – to indicate the effectiveness of their safety programmes. Action plans are also provided which aim to help companies reduce their insurance premiums, increase repeat business from customers and improve staff morale.