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July 9, 2015

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Biffa is first company to be awarded 5 stars in SHE audit

Integrated waste management firm, Biffa, has become the first company to achieve five stars in the British Safety Council new Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) Integrated Audit, in recognition of its efforts to improve health and safety at work, and to protect the environment.

The Five Star Safety, Health and Environmental Integrated Audit provides a comprehensive and independent evaluation of an organisation’s entire SHE management system and benchmarks against current best practice techniques, providing an overall score and grading.

The British Safety Council’s auditor highlighted Biffa’s focus on staff welfare, as well as effective processes and programmes to raise SHE standards.

Matt Humphreys, head of safety, health and quality at Biffa, commented: “Considered to be the second most dangerous industry in the country, health and safety should undoubtedly be the waste sector’s most important priority.

“We work tirelessly to implement programmes that will affect positive and real change, both for our 6,500 plus staff and the general public, so we’re delighted to see that the effectiveness of our SHE management systems and arrangements has been independently recognised by the British Safety Council.

“Becoming the first company to achieve a five star rating in the new Integrated SHE Audit is further testament to the health and safety culture we have worked hard to create.”

 Some of Biffa’s most celebrated practices include the roll out of its ‘iforsafety’ behavioural change programme, which focuses on raising awareness of the importance of reporting ‘near misses’ in the workplace.

Biffa has helped to further boost its safety credentials with campaigns such as ‘Cars on Pavements’ and ‘People in Bins’, which have gained significant national press coverage and substantially raised the public’s awareness of these issues. 

Matt concludes: “These pioneering health and safety initiatives have become a beacon for industry best practice and we look forward to continuing on this journey towards a safer environment for all.”

In March 2015, the lost time incident rate at Biffa was down by 44 per cent on July 2013, with its materials recycling facilities, and one region within its Municipal division, now statistically 20 times safer than they were four years ago.

The British Safety Council’s intense, Five Star Safety, Health and Environmental Integrated Audit involved an in-depth, four-day examination of Biffa’s SHE management systems and arrangements across various sampled sites throughout the UK in January 2015, scrutinising the organisation’s approach to managing occupational safety and health and environmental issues and pathways for continuous improvement towards best practice.

For more information call Biffa on 0800 307307 or visit www.biffa.co.uk

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