Sarah Ryan, of Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition, has been named as the Personal Safety Champion at a national awards ceremony in London.
Sarah, who is the community business manager (north) for Nutricia Early Life Nutrition, was presented with the award at Suzy Lamplugh Trust National Personal Safety Awards on 23 March
Lone worker experts Peoplesafe sponsored the Personal Safety Champion category and the overall awards for the second year running.
The Personal Safety Champion award recognised the individual who best facilitated the improvement of safety for employees in the workplace, especially for those who work alone. There were eight other categories including the Inspiring Individual Award, the Young Person’s Safety Award, the Safer Workplace Award and the Taking Stalking Seriously Award.
Among the other winners were the Rotherham Steering Group, University of the West of Scotland, Dame Vera Baird and Lincolnshire County Council.
Peoplesafe’s managing director, Ian Johannessen, said: “We sponsor the awards because we believe that personal safety should be literally in the DNA of an organisation. And people like Sarah really show that.
“Perhaps the key thing that makes Sarah a Personal Safety Champion is that she is not actually a health and safety professional; all of her commitment to lone working is on top of her day job as a business manager. Her enthusiasm, commitment and hard work all come from just wanting to help others be safe at work.
“Sarah is a great example of lone worker safety as part of the culture of an organisation – making sure it actually happens on the ground.”
Sarah’s entry outlined how she worked with the health and safety officer to make a business case for a personal safety tracking system. Now all lone workers at Danone Nutricia have personal safety training.
Sarah said: “Danone is a very responsible employer, aware that personal safety makes sense both financially and morally, and they have supported me all the way. And best of all we have made sure that the training we do with our employees is great fun – as well as informative.”
Peoplesafe, which has its headquarters in South Yorkshire, is one of the UK’s leading providers of lone worker devices and safety training.
It provides an NSI Gold accredited service, which is the highest possible industry recognition. The service is fully compliant with the British Standard for lone worker provision (8484). Its clients include a range of major retailers, housing associations, facilities management companies, charities and house builders.
Suzy Lamplugh Trust works to reduce the risk of violence and aggression through campaigning, education and support
The charity was set up by Paul and Diana Lamplugh in memory of their daughter Suzy, a 25 year old estate agent, who disappeared in 1986 after she went to meet an unknown client in London. Her body was never found.
