Good practice awards
Call for nominations
What are the awards?
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work invites nominations for the fifth European Good Practice Awards in occupational health and safety. The 2004 award scheme will recognise companies or organisations that have made outstanding and innovative contributions to the prevention of risks from construction activities. The awards aim to demonstrate, by example, to all European employers and workers the benefits of following good safety and health practices.
The awards will provide those selected with European recognition for their role in improving working conditions in Europe. In addition:
- Representatives of the selected enterprises/organisations will be invited to the European Week for Safety and Health at Work 2004 closing event and award ceremony in Bilbao towards the end of 2004
- The examples will be presented in an Agency brochure to be widely distributed across Europe and presented on the Agency’s website.
What types of good practice examples can be entered?
Good practice examples are implemented solutions to prevent the exposure of workers to risks during construction activities. All entries should show good management, particularly the effective use of risk assessment and implementation of its findings, and be focused on the successful prevention of risks to workers.
Construction activities are taken to include (non-exhaustive list):
- Building and assembly work, including works of engineering construction
- Work involving repair, alterations, upkeep, cleaning, and maintenance
- Earthworks, groundworks, excavations, and tunnelling
- Demolition and dismantling work, including disassembly of prefabricated elements
- Renovation and restoration, including painting and decorating work, conversion or fitting out.
Examples of risk prevention could cover:
- The elimination of risks before work begins on site, for example through:
- Good procurement practices of equipment and materials
- Effective tendering processes
- Successful planning and design actions
- The effective management of health and safety risks on site, for example through:
- Novel and innovative risk assessment actions
- Minimisation of risks by work scheduling or planning
- Innovative plant, equipment, or site control, such as methods for ensuring effective inspection of scaffolding
- Working in partnership with site safety representatives
- Occupational health preventive actions (e.g. health surveillance or monitoring systems, or provision of welfare facilities.
- The effective communication of knowledge on hazards, risks, and solutions by means such as induction, training, and actions by safety representatives
- Successful building or estate management (e.g. where asbestos is present) and control of contractors.
What will the judging panel be looking for?
- Workplace focus
- Risks tackled at source through good management, particularly the effective use of risk assessment and implementation of its findings
- Successful implementation in the workplace
- Real improvements
- Sustainability across time, particularly actions that continue to impact after the construction phase is completed
- Good consultation between management and the workforce
- Compliance with relevant legislative requirements, preferably going beyond minimum requirements
- Possibility of transfer to other workplaces, preferably including those in other Member States and to SMEs
- ´Freshness´ of information provided. The example should be recent.
Good practice examples will NOT be accepted if the good practice example has clearly been developed for commercial profit. This particularly relates to products, tools or services that are or could be marketed. Examples focused on the individual, such as training, should also demonstrate how they are part of a wider risk management approach.
You can see awarded good practice examples from previous years on the Agency’s website, for example at http://osha.europa.eu/publications/reports/103/
Who can take part?
Good practice examples will be accepted from organisations in States that will be members of the EU in November 2004. Organisations include:
- Individual enterprises, (from whom entries are particularly welcomed) where actions have been taken. These may be in roles such as clients, architects, health and safety coordinators, estate managers, or contractors
- Enterprises or organisations within the product, equipment, or personnel supply chain, for example plant hire companies
- Employer organisations, trade associations, trade unions, non-governmental organisations
- Regional or local occupational health and safety prevention services, and other intermediary organisations.
How to enter
The Agency’s network partner responsible for organising the European Week in your country has more detailed information available and will inform you about the closing date for receipt of nominations.
Contact them at:
IRELAND (Closing date for Ireland entries: 9th July 2004)
Name: Joan Kelly
Address: Health and Safety Authority
10, Hogan Place
Dublin 2
Tel. (353-1) 614 71 22
Fax (353-1) 614 71 25
E-mail: joank@hsa.ie
URL: http://ie.osha.europa.eu
MALTA (Closing date for Malta entries: 9th July 2004)
Name: Malta Focal Point
Address: Occupational Health and Safety Authority
120 St Ursola Street
Valletta VLT 02
Tel. (356) 21 247 677 / 8
Fax (356) 21 232 909
E-mail: ohsa.communications@gov.mt
URL: http://mt.osha.europa.eu/
UNITED KINGDOM (Closing date for UK entries: 9th July 2004)
Name: UK Focal Point
Address: Health and Safety Executive
Room 318, Daniel House
Bootle, Merseyside
L20 3TW
Tel. (44-151) 951 3191/3355
Fax (44-151) 951 3467
E-mail: uk.focalpoint@hse.gsi.gov.uk
URL: http://uk.osha.europa.eu/
COUNTRY NAME (Closing date for insert country name entries: 9th of July 2004)
Name:
Address:
Tel.
Fax
E-mail:
URL:
More information about the European Agency and the European Week 2004 can be found at: http://ew2004.osha.europa.eu
