By Victoria Brenan

Last updated at 13:39, Wednesday, 26 October 2011

Cumbrian haulage company Eddie Stobart has been named the best in Britain at being safe.

The company’s Stop, Think, Act campaign cut the accident frequency rate by 84 per cent after it was launched in June last year and has been crowned the best safety initiative by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

The scheme began after health and safety manager Neil Marston asked employees to assess a potentially unsafe situation and then take appropriate action.

The campaign adopted a ‘traffic light’ approach where staff were encouraged to Stop, Think then Act.

All employees received a pocket-sized reminder card and posters were displayed across Stobart Group depots, warehouses and offices.

To back up the safety campaign, a purpose-built training academy was opened by Transport Minister Mike Penning and is now used for all staff inductions and training. It has full-sized trucks and trailers to enable practical safety demonstrations and hands-on experience for staff.

Eddie Stobart also trained and appointed four safety advisors across the business to talk to drivers and delivered an Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) Managing Safety course to more than 50 of its first line managers.

The haulage company, which has more than 2,200 vehicles, beat Virgin Trains and City Link to take the best health and safety achievement in transport and logistics at the Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) IOSH awards in London on Sunday night.

Mr Marston said the safety award was recognition of all the work by everyone in the health and safety team and the success of the campaign.

“Robust health and safety processes are vital in reducing and managing the risks associated with a fast-paced logistics business,” he added.

“We wanted people to continue to work and operate normally but to ensure they work safely and follow our practices and procedures. This really is a common sense approach. By following our advice and just assessing the situation first, we have prevented many of the simple, avoidable accidents that still seemed to be happening.”

In a separate ceremony on the same night, Stobart Group chief executive Andrew Tinkler was presented with the Sir Robert Lawrence Award by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport for his contribution to the logistics industry.

First published at 11:28, Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk