Raising the bar on Safety
Increasing focus on Health and Safety performance
As a supplier and machinist of high performance alloys, Maher has seen an increasing focus on its Health and Safety performance from the industries into which it delivers. It is because of this that in recent years the company has focused heavily on its’ HSE practices. These efforts recently paid dividends because for the second year running, Maher has been awarded the coveted British Safety Council’s International Safety Award. So how was this achieved?
After employing a dedicated Health and Safety Officer in 2009, Maher implemented a range of changes to how HSE is handled by the company. Good housekeeping has long been one of the fundamental values of the family-owned business and there has been an increased focus on shared responsibility and education. A cross-company Health and Safety committee and regular Tool Box talks for all members of staff have opened up communication on the subject, providing a forum for people to ask questions and make suggestions for improvement. From these areas, there have been a number of useful initiatives launched, such as having different types of safety gloves for employees depending on what metals they are handling and having made-to-measure ear protectors to increase comfort and make wearing them less undesirable. These have been implemented alongside PPE dispensers on the shop floor and regular auditing of all work areas.
Such measures have brought significant improvements in terms of the number of accidents reported however Maher has continued to increase its focus in this area. Taking a broader, and perhaps more holistic approach to HSE, Maher actively promotes healthy lifestyle choices for its employees. This comes in the form of promoting the Government’s Cycle to Work Scheme, running membership promotions with local gyms as well as having free drinks and fresh fruit available for staff. Through promoting these wellbeing initiatives, Maher has seen results through a happier and more motivated workforce.
Technical Manager, Helen Grey comments, ‘it demonstrates to contractors and customers that we value our people and the work that we do which, by extension, influences the quality of the overall product we are able to deliver.’