Vertas Group has revealed a 76% reduction in injuries reportable to the Health and Safety Executive under RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013). The group - which has 2600 employees operating across eight companies at over 400 sites across the UK - prides itself on making health, safety and wellbeing an absolute priority.
In 2017/18, Vertas Group Ltd recorded the following incidents: three reportable injuries - a reduction of 76% from 2016/17; 23 lost time injuries - a reduction of 32%; and 109 minor injuries - a reduction of 29%. The three employees with reportable injuries all made full recoveries.
The reasons for the improvement in safety are fourfold: formal manager and executive site visits increased by 141% and 44% respectively in 2016/17 and continued to increase in 2017/18; mandatary ‘tool box talks’ ensure staff are aware of safe working practices; every monthly line management meeting across the business, from operations and finance to communications and HR, lists ‘health and safety’ as the first agenda item; and there is a strong focus on ‘near miss reporting’. Staff in all departments are actively encouraged to report near misses for anything which could present a risk in the future. These are all assessed and rectified by the 10 strong health and safety team, within a timeframe appropriate to the perceived level of risk.
Ian Surtees, chief executive officer at Vertas Group Ltd, said: “Integrity and consistency are two of our five brand values and we demonstrate these strongly in health and safety. We are immensely proud that this intense focus in recent years has borne fruit with significant progress in keeping our workplaces and employees safe.”