Prestigious Safety Award For SES

Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon John Prescott, presented leading building services company SES with the prestigious British Standards Institute (BSi) 18001:1999 safety standard accreditation.

At a special ceremony in Westminster on 17 May 2004, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Rt Hon John Prescott, presented leading building services company SES with the prestigious British Standards Institute (BSi) 18001:1999 safety standard accreditation.

The accreditation means that SES is the first building services company in the UK to ever achieve the prestigious specification of OHSAS 18001:1999 from the BSi - a recognised and world renowned benchmark for excellence in safety management.

Receiving the award on behalf of the company was Patrick Shepherd, Shepherd Building Group's Deputy Chairman.

At the ceremony Patrick Shepherd said: "Shepherd Building Group companies have taken the subject of safety very seriously for many years, implementing procedures beyond industry norms.

We are proud of this latest achievement by SES, which the Award recognises.

Safe working practices are paramount within the Shepherd companies and we hope that the high profile given to this Award encourages widespread industry support for greater emphasis on safety." The Deputy Prime Minister, Rt Hon John Prescott, who is championing safety standards in the UK construction industry, commented: "I want to congratulate SES on achieving the BSi standard.

It demonstrates the company is working to reduce health and safety risks, which today's event recognises.

I urge the industry to do everything in their power to make construction a much safer place, so it is with great pleasure that I present this certificate to SES." Taking 18 months to complete, the accreditation is by far SES's most testing and rewarding safety achievement to date and makes the company one of only a handful of organisations in the whole construction industry to have achieved it.

The BSi client manager for SES commented "When it comes to safety, SES is impressively and commendably managed".

The accreditation follows a number of audits carried out at several SES sites and offices throughout 2003, where all aspects of safety management were vigorously examined.

This included its safety documentation, emergency procedures, safety training and a full range of site activities.

Site Operatives were also asked questions on site in relation to induction and training procedures.

Allan McDougall, SES Managing Director, said: "This is a great achievement for SES and puts us at the forefront of safety within the building services industry.

I would like to thank all those involved who helped SES achieve this prestigious award".

Attaining the accreditation does not mean the company can now rest on its laurels.

As part of the process it will now be continually assessed on its safety procedures throughout the year, a challenge that is welcomed by Tony Sidwell, SES Company Safety Manager.

Tony said: "Over the years SES has worked extremely hard to achieve the levels of safe working practices we have today and this is not something the safety team has done alone.

Everybody in the company from the office to the sites has contributed to raising their own and their colleagues awareness of safety and I am confident we can continue to sustain and develop our successful safety policy in the future.".

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