by Brianna Crandall — May 17, 2013—The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) recently announced the ten winners of the 11th edition of its Good Practice Awards, in which several hundred companies of all sizes from 29 countries in the EU and beyond competed. This year EU-OSHA rewarded the best examples of cooperation between managers and employees in risk prevention.
EU-OSHA announced the winners during the European conference Small Business and Workplace Safety and Health: The Challenge; The Opportunity, which took place the day after the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (April 28). This was the first time EU-OSHA gave joint awards to both managers and workers, which is in line with its ongoing Healthy Workplaces Campaign themed “Working Together for Risk Prevention.”
“The benefits of good occupational health and safety policies are still not always recognized at the individual company level in Europe, and especially among micro, small and medium-sized enterprises,” said Dr. Christa Sedlatschek, Director of EU-OSHA. “This competition proved that it is possible that even a company with only seven employees can have innovative prevention solutions, as was the case with one of the Spanish award winners,” she added.
“We would like to show that ideas and concepts developed by the winners of the Good Practice Award can be adapted across different industries and Member States and in organizations of different types and sizes,” stressed László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. “Taking stock of innovative solutions and best practices in Europe should also help us in the effort to further develop health and safety policies for the future.”
Winners of this edition were expected to show strong management leadership and active worker participation in safety and health. The organizations represent a wide variety of sectors, such as health care, retail and agriculture. During the event EU-OSHA also commended a further ten companies. A new booklet showcases the good practice initiatives the companies have implemented, which they shared at the ceremony.
The 2013 winning organizations are:
- voestalpine Rotec Group (Austria) for establishing a health and safety standard across different countries;
- Atlantica Leisure Group Ltd (Cyprus) for minimizing accidents in the hotel industry;
- Rigshospitalet (Denmark) for improving the working environment in a large hospital;
- Oy SKF Ab, Muurame factory (Finland) for increasing staff well-being at a technology company;
- ArbeitsschutzPartnerschaft Hamburg (Germany) for finding health and safety solutions for companies in Hamburg;
- West Offaly Dairy Discussion Group (Ireland) for reducing hazards on dairy farms;
- Wehkamp.nl/Gezond Transport/EVO (Netherlands) for raising safety awareness among forklift truck drivers;
- SONAE (Portugal) for involving workers and managers in risk prevention at a retail group;
- PROTóN ELECTRóNICA SLU (Spain) for developing a risk prevention model for small companies; and
- Tofas Türk Otomobil Fabrikasi A.S (Turkey) for reducing accidents in automobile production.
