A radical rethink of the health and safety culture at Float Glass Industries (FGI) has been rewarded with the company winning all three of the categories it entered at the Glass Charter Health & Safety Awards 2004, at the British Glass Annual Health & Safety Conference in Birmingham.

Manchester-based FGI won Best Safety Improvement, Best Health & Safety Professional and Best Nominated Director for Health & Safety.

The change has been brought about since 2001, when the Directors of Float Glass Industries recognised that its record was not as good as it should have been, and in less than two years it has become a shining example of how safety procedures should be implemented in a potentially hazardous industry. In fact, it has been so successful that the Health & Safety Executive is now citing Float Glass Industries as a model for other companies to follow.

The whole company was involved in the culture change, but two people who have been instrumental in this are Operations Director Mike Thompson, who won the award for Best Nominated Director for Health & Safety, and Health & Safety Manager Ron Hindle, who won an award as Best Health & Safety Professional.

Roy Offland, Chairman and Joint Managing Director at Float Glass Industries, commented, ‘These awards are a marvellous acknowledgment of the major steps that FGI has taken in the field of health and safety. Ron, Mike and the whole team have worked tirelessly to achieve new standards of health and safety, and we are extremely proud of this. The standards set by FGI are now a model for other companies to follow.’

Source

Glass Age