CHEP, the leading FMCG and retail end-to-end supply chain specialist, has celebrated twelve years of incident-free working at the company’s Dublin plant in Finglas through an industry leading Health & Safety initiative called Zero Harm.
The Zero Harm initiative, which was launched in 2005, commits to considering health, safety, the environment and human rights in all decisions concerning the development of projects, the selection of commercial partners and suppliers and the launch of new products or services. The achievement equates to one million hours of avoiding injuries that require off-site medical assistance, time-off, or a modification of duties.
Last month CHEP secured the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident’s Gold Award for the seventh year running thanks to the success of the initiative in eliminating the risk of accidents at the company. The RoSPA Awards scheme, which receives entries from organisations around the world, recognises achievement in health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.
Jerry Hedderman, Service Centre Manager at CHEP’s Dublin plant said: “Everyone is extremely proud of the journey we have taken to get us to this milestone. I am delighted that we have been able to change the culture within the plant to one that is so highly focused on driving safety not only as individuals, but as a team. There is a real culture of care within the team now. We have a total of 45 staff at our plant in Dublin and everyone has played an active role in our Zero Harm initiative.”
Hugh Kempton, Health & Safety Manager for Europe at CHEP added: “This is an incredible achievement for the company and it has only been made possible through real collaboration between managers and workers on the shop floor. Our workers are empowered to regularly provide feedback on potential health and safety issues, which managers immediately respond to. The team in Dublin are a shining example to others in the industry on best-practice health and safety policy. Whether it’s store operations, at our service centres, drivers on the road or staff in the distribution centres, CHEP is committed to optimising health and safety processes for all staff and we look forward to announcing more milestones of this kind across the business.”