Case study: Pickfords, Lightening the health & safety load
For a removal company, the health and safety of its workers and systems are paramount.
“It makes good business sense. In a competitive marketplace, our customers are looking for more than just keen pricing.”
So says Kevin Pickford, managing director of 400-year-old removal and storage company Pickfords, of the fi rm’s recent accredited certification to health and safety management standard OHSAS 18001.
For a removal company, the health and safety of employees and customers is an essential business requirement, and the accredited certification by the BSI Group emphasises the company’s focus on nationwide health and safety management. The 2007 version of OHSAS 18001 is awarded to
companies that meet exceptionally high standards in occupational health and safety procedures as part of their risk management strategy.
In Pickfords’ case, OHSAS 18001 certifies that the system is consistently able to identify and control health and safety risks, reduce the risk of accidents, improve overall safety performance and ensure full compliance with health and safety law.
The standard covers the company’s national network of 60 removal and storage centres, including major regional sites in Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff
and Glasgow, and Pickfords’ head offi ce in Enfield, Middlesex.
Kevin Pickford says: “We’ve always had a strong commitment to ensuring the safety of our staff and our clients’ employees whenever we’re operating at their premises. But OHSAS 18001 is a rigorous external text that proves we are committed to setting robust health and safety procedures on an ongoing basis.”
The company puts a heavy emphasis on ongoing health and safety training for its entire workforce, agrees John Horsefield, Pickfords’ health and safety adviser. He says: “Our employees display the right attitude and commitment to health and safety and have shown that they’re willing to take responsibility for themselves, their colleagues and our clients’ staff. We will now begin a rolling programme of BSI audits every year to maintain our OHSAS 18001 certification.”
OHSAS 18001 is also designed to be compatible with quality management system standard ISO 9001 and environmental management system standard ISO 14001. Indeed, Pickfords is one of the few moving companies in the UK to have received certification for all the key international best practice standards for quality, environmental management and health and safety management.
“Adding OHSAS 18001 to our existing certificates for quality and environmental management is part of our strategy to highlight the Pickfords brand as a world leader in delivering best practice in global standards to our valued customers,” Kevin says.
“This external certifi cation means we can tangibly demonstrate to customers that our business is managed responsibly and we can provide a reliable service without excessive downtime and the associated costs caused by work-related accidents and incidents.”