Health, safety and wellbeing

We have implemented a system of increased incident awareness and reporting in order to drive changes to improve health and safety standards. As a result, the number of potentially fatal incidents has increased while the number of significant near hits has reduced by a similar amount.

During Covid-19 the health and wellbeing of our employees became more important than ever. We responded quickly with daily meetings at executive level to ensure appropriate actions were taken and the response to a rapidly changing situation was effectively managed. 

We continued our support of industry charity Mates in Mind to break the stigma associated with mental health issues and we ran a programme of activities to support employees during Mental Health Awareness Week. We now have 135 mental health first aiders (4% of workforce, or one for every 25 employees), trained to recognise and support those who have mental health concerns and spot the trigger signs.

Activities were based on the key themes of our 2020 safety improvement plan – control of contractors and risk assessment. All employees received a Covid-19 support pack, with useful items such as a key ring hand sanitiser and a snood which can be used as a neck scarf for the colder months.

Early in 2020 we received a 2019 Roadworthiness Award from the Freight Transport Association (now Logistics UK) in recognition of the excellence we have achieved in vehicle safety and our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of compliance and vehicle condition. It was one of only 15 given out based on the association’s inspections of 1,000 company fleets.