Health &
safety
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Health & Safety

The health, safety and welfare of our people, including colleagues, customers and suppliers, forms a critical part of Macfarlane Group’s business objectives.

We aim to achieve a positive health and safety culture through the creation of a safe and healthy work environment, preventing and minimising risks.

The health, safety and welfare of all people, including colleagues, customers and suppliers, forms a critical part of Macfarlane Group’s business objectives. We aim to achieve a positive health and safety culture through the creation of a safe and healthy work environment, preventing and minimising risks.

Our vision and goals for Health and Safety and how we commit to achieve them are based upon the best practice guidelines, issued by the Health and Safety Executive. To ensure we adhere and abide by best health and safety practices we have dedicated Health and Safety Managers in the business, who work with local Health and Safety teams to ensure knowledge and standards are effectively applied to the business on a consistent basis throughout all the health and safety disciplines.

We continue to invest in our premises and our equipment to improve the safety of our business operations, particularly in relation to the operation of our machinery and vehicles.

Macfarlane Group continues to adopt risk-based approach to our Health & Safety programme. This ensures that resources are directed in the most efficient and effective way possible.

In 2022 we:

  • Embedded the Health and Safety Management System into the Group including 2021 acquisitions – this is to ensure all Accidents, Incidents, Near Misses and Safety Observations are captured and all investigation findings are identified and actioned. We are currently reviewing legacy Health and Safety reporting systems at the 2022 acquisition, PackMann, with a view to integrating them into the Group system.
  • Installed Automatic External Defibrillators (AED’s) in all the UK and Ireland Group sites – to promote that the welfare of our people is important to the Group.
  • Developed a Health and Safety Training Programme – ensuring all our people understand why Health and Safety is important and the key role that they play in improving the safety of our sites.
  • Full Health and Safety Audit Schedule completed – all Group sites including 2021 and 2022 acquisitions were audited against legislative and Macfarlane Group policies and standards.

The Accident Frequency Rate (‘AFR’) representing the number of reportable incidents per 100,000 person-hours worked is shown below.

 

Four reportable incidents occurred in 2022 compared to five in 2021. All reportable incidents are investigated thoroughly by our Health & Safety team and changes to working practices implemented if required. We also ensure that training in a particular area where incidents have arisen is reinforced.

Slips, trips, and falls are the highest cause of reportable incidents, and we continue to review and improve our training and oversight of these activities as part of our ongoing commitment to the safety of our people.

In 2023, our aims are continuous improvement in our positive safety culture and reduce recorded accidents, ensuring all our sites are safe places of work for our colleagues and all stakeholders. Some of the actions we plan to complete include:

  • delivering Health and Safety awareness training to all site managers;
  • conducting HSQE Representative training, including accident/incident investigations;
  • identifying a suitable E-learning platform to enhance training;
  • detailed analysis of our leading and trailing indicators to identify trends and areas for further improvements which will be used to drive the safety culture improvements and Health and Safety strategy for the next few years;
  • monitoring actions identified through monthly site inspections and ensuring these are regularly reviewed; and
  • continue to engage all members of the leadership team in the safety inspection programme.

We also recognise our commitment to the safety of our drivers and those who share the roads with our delivery vehicles. We now have camera systems fitted to many of our vehicles and the roll out of this initiative continues as part of our commitment to continuous improvement in our health and safety performance.

To ensure constant and consistent focus regarding Health and Safety throughout the Group, it is a main agenda item at all formal monthly review meetings and operating sites in the Group are internally assessed and graded on their Health and Safety performance.

The Group Board plays a key role in overseeing the operation of all Health and Safety, reviewing reports on Health and Safety at each meeting. This report covers incidents, near misses, reportable and non-reportable incidents.

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