We’re constantly working to improve awareness and standards across the entire company and that’s at every level, from the boardroom to the factory floor.
Complacency is not an option, and we make no apologies for the fact that profit and loss, deadlines and headlines, all come second to making sure that everyone can enjoy a safe and healthy working environment – every day.
We have a dedicated safety, health and environment (SHE) department. This team is responsible for developing and maintaining a positive approach to these important areas of our business and managing an engaged culture to ensure this is something we share accountability for, across all of our operations. We ensure each of our sites has a health and safety manager and these team members report to the main board via dedicated monthly meetings. These roles are further backed by our incredible ‘employee safety champions’, who work on client projects.
We conduct regular internal audits on our processes and investigate any non-conformance, including incidents and near misses, so we can drive the health and safety culture of our business forward.
We’re proud to say that our commitment in this area has previously been recognised with an International Safety Award from the British Safety Council and a Gold Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
We empower each employee and subcontractor to constantly strive to adopt the best safety and health practices. We developed ‘6 Life Saving Rules’ to drive this positive safety culture:
Our 6 Life Saving Rules
Our Life Saving Rules were developed after a review of the incidents in our business. They are a condition of employment and must be followed at all times.
The rules are just one component of an appropriate identification and sanction policy and they apply to everybody; all employees, contractors, service suppliers and visitors.
No incidents that harm people
We know behaviours are a major contributory factor in incidents; this is why we have our own, bespoke behavioural safety programme. This involves 1:1 coaching, delivered by an expert in behavioural safety on how best to deal with both positive and negative conversations. Our programme has been expanded to include ownership and accountability sessions with our senior managers, encouraging them to take ownership of key messages and maintain focus on behavioural safety. All subcontractors are invited to be involved in the programme and to spend the day learning about Severfield’s culture and how integral they were to the continued success of the programme. Working together with our subcontractors has led us to further understand each other’s expectations and how we can take a joint approach in promoting our “safety first” values.
We have also achieved certification to BS EN ISO 14004 and BS EN ISO 14001 for our Safety, Health and Environmental System and developed innovative accident prevention systems for materials handling and operator access during steel erection. You can find out more about our processes in our Group SHE policy documents.
Our Group SHE Strategy
Our group SHE strategy is based around 3 core principles: People; Communication & Engagement; Systems & Processes.
You can read about our strategy using the interactive document below.
Severfield's Safety First Awards
We introduced our Safety First Awards in 2019 to celebrate the highest standards of health, safety and environmental management within our business.
Taking place at The Grand Hotel and Spa in York, Severfield welcomed over 80 colleagues and sub-contractors to the exclusive ‘Safety First Awards’ on Thursday 7 November 2019, which celebrated the highest standards of health, safety and environmental management across the business.