Winner and finalists:

Miller Homes hands-on approach and thorough site inspection system impressed the judges in this category

Miller Homes

Miller Homes is a flagship example of active involvement in health and safety improvement. In summer 2005, the 700m-turnover company, which on any given day has about 4,500 workers on its sites and in its offices across the UK, decided to switch from external monitoring of its sites to an internal support system, thereby encouraging those within the company to take greater responsibility for health and safety. The company has now developed a three-part inspection system, which demands that any remedial actions needed to address issues are undertaken by site management within 48 hours. As a result, both site inspection scores and accident frequency rates have shown significant improvement over the past two years.

Berkeley Homes

Berkeley Homes has been the only housing sector representative on the Considerate Constructors Scheme associate steering group since 2005, making it a leading voice on safety within the housing sector. The company is supporting the sector initiative to achieve a fully CSCS-carded workforce by 2008, and last December it ran seven seminars, attended by over 350 directors and senior managers, to assist contractors in understanding the drive towards CSCS cards.

Braidwater

After examining its accident records, Braidwater felt its safety systems could be improved upon, and over the past year the Irish company has done just that. It has employed its former health and safety consultant as a full-time health and safety manager, and has developed a video conferencing system to allow for live discussion of issues between its Liverpool and Northern Ireland offices. The company has seen accident rates drop substantially over the past year as a result.

St George

St George has been a leading light in parent company Berkeley Groups drive to improve health and safety. The company has been injury/accident free for over seven months, and has exceeded 1 million injury/accident free working hours. In the event of an incident on a St George site, safety bulletins are issued to all staff and measures introduced throughout the business to prevent future occurrences perhaps thats why the company is on course to reduce its accident/incident rate by 10% this year.

Health and Safety Awards 2007