Health and Safety Awards 2008

Trevor Walker, Constructing Better Health chairman, received the outstanding achievement prize at the 2008 Health and Safety Awards attended by more than 400 people last night.

Walker was handed his award by comedian Michael McIntyre, and was praised by the Health and Safety Executive’s Sue Parkyn.

“Trevor has been determined in raising the profile of proper occupational health risk management in an industry where there is a poor understanding of work related health matters,” Parkyn said. “His work as chairman has been outstanding.”

The Health and Safety Champion of the Year prize was awarded to Ken Woodward, consultant to contractors Mace. Woodward was blinded by a chemical explosion in 1990 after he mixed two chemicals together for a cleaning job, having not been warned about their volatility or trained properly.

His accident inspired him to become a safety campaigner, and he was awarded an OBE for services to Health and Safety in 2006.

Elsewhere at the ceremony, held at London’s Hilton on Park Lane, scaffolding specialists SGB Group won the Major Building Contractor’s Safety Programme prize, with The Highways Agency being crowned Client with the Best Commitment to Health and Safety.

The event concluded with a charity casino in aid of the Construction Youth Trust, and a full list of the winners is below:

Best Housebuilder’s Safety Programme

Cala Group

Best Public Safety Programme

John Laing Partnership

Best Safety Product or Equipment

BM Solutions, Click-On

Building Contractor’s Safety Programme

Balfour Kilpatrick

H&S Site Worker of the Year (sponsored by Lincsafe)

Lyndon Hart, Clugston Construction

Health & Safety Champion of the Year (sponsored by The Association for Project Safety)

Ken Woodward, Mace

Integrated Project Safety Award (sponsored by Construction Skills)

HBG Construction

Major Building Contractor’s Safety Programme

SGB Group

Occupational Health Risk Management Award

Clugston Construction

Small Firm Award (sponsored by Construction Skills)

Northern Cladding

Worker Engagement Award

KMI Plus

Client with the Best Commitment to Health and Safety (sponsored by Kier)

The Highways Agency

Outstanding Safety Achievement Award (sponsored by Bovis)

Trevor Walker