Ten EU Companies Win Good Practice Awards
EU-OSHA announced them during an April 29 small business and workplace safety conference.
Ten companies have won top awards in the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)'s 11th edition of the Good Practice Awards as the best examples of cooperation of managers and employees on risk prevention. EU-OSHA reports several hundred companies of all sizes from 29 countries in the European Union and beyond competed this year. The agency announced the winners during a small business safety conference in Dublin.
This was the first time EU-OSHA gave joint awards to managers and workers.
"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, EU-OSHA's director. "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."
"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," added 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."
The winning companies 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
- Tofaş Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş (Turkey) for reducing accidents in automobile production
EU-OSHA also commended companies in Austria, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom for their programs.