Keeping people safe
We have around 10,000 employees and we want all of them, along with our contractors, visitors and customers, to stay safe all the while they are at our sites.
Health and safety
We continue to roll out our behavioural safety/safety culture approach across the business. We have always committed to developing, implementing, and improving safe systems of work, and this continued during 2020 with particular emphasis on re-engineering working processes in our factories, warehouses, and depots in response to COVID-19.
For more details of what we’ve done in 2020, together with our commitments and targets for the future, see our full sustainability report here.
Accident reporting
We are pleased that our safety KPI - the level of RIDDOR reportable injuries - continues to be significantly lower than the UK national average, with reportable injuries per 100,000 employees 32% below the Health and Safety Executive’s all-industry average in 2020. This gives us a strong base to build on as we continue to look for further improvements in working practices and ways to develop our safety culture.
Safe to Trade
In 2018, we rolled out a new tool kit for depot staff, entitled Safe to Trade. The pack sets out expected standards of safety for each depot, to ensure consistency across the network. All existing depot workers were retrained using the system, whilst new staff now work through it as part of their induction. The training materials include a film book, online software and a flip folder for quick reference or refresher training and appealing and easy to access formats. This way of getting up to date messages to the depots was particularly useful in 2020 when we were able to use it to get the latest COVID-19 operating procedures, bulletins, and alerts to depots at the drop of a hat.
In our depot network we were very pleased to be awarded the International Institute of Risk & Safety Management’s Technology Risk Management Initiative of the Year. This award was in recognition of a major project that involved us working with our fork lift supplier to develop a bespoke warning alarm system that alerts our fork lift drivers against trying to lift loads which are above the recommended capacity of the fork lift truck. Following a successful development phase, we invested in the retrofit of the alarm system to our fleet of over 700 fork lift trucks. All new trucks are fitted with this system as standard.
Safe to Supply
Our manufacturing and logistics behavioural safety programme, Safe to Supply, places a strong onus on staff to take responsibility for their wellbeing, and that of those around them. In 2020, we successfully achieved the international safety standard ISO 45001 in our factories and logistics network. This standard builds on the outgoing standard, OHSAS 180001, and expands its focus from safety systems to safety leadership and culture.
In 2020, our manufacturing and distribution operations were awarded a distinction - the highest grade - in the British Safety Council International Safety Awards. These prestigious international awards are evidence-based, and they recognise best practice in occupational health, safety, and wellbeing.HOWDENS Making space more valuable
Business Model and Strategy
Depots
Sustainability
Community
Products
People and Careers
Financial Results
