FirstGroup, the leading transport operator in the UK and North America, last week (24 April) hosted its annual Safety and Environmental Awards. The awards reinforce First’s commitment to safety and the environment by recognising the achievements of its people and companies throughout the UK.
“Injury Prevention underpins everything that we do at First,” said Naveed Qamar, FirstGroup’s Safety Director. “The lives of 125,000 employees are in our hands, as well as those of the 2.5 billion passengers that we move each year. Our approach to safety is relentless, and whilst we can point to a good safety record across the Group, we must continue to improve and do better.”
Naveed explained that the Awards Ceremony and the Safety Conference the following day (25 April) augmented the aim for zero safety related incidents across the Group. “We want all our depots, stations and offices to achieve zero injuries and zero preventable incidents.
“Our Awards and Safety Conference re-inforced our company mantra: ‘If you cannot do it safely, don’t do it.’ “
Graham Thurstan, Environmental Manager at FirstGroup commented: “FirstGroup is committed to reducing the impact of our operations and have made great strides in the last year increasing recycling and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. We are also very proud of achieving the Carbon Trust Standard this year, which provides tangible proof of actual reductions in FirstGroup’s carbon footprint.”
He continued: “The Environmental Awards reward those individuals and companies that demonstrate commitment, enthusiasm, innovative thinking and go the extra mile to help limit our environmental footprint.”
Winner of the coveted ‘Best Large Depot’ for UK Bus in the safety category was First Aberdeen. Meanwhile the best large team in the rail category was won by the General Management Team (West Region) at First Great Western. Both rail and bus winners can point towards excellent and ever improving safety performances for their success.
In the Environmental category, Halifax’s Skircoat Bus depot scooped the Best Bus Depot award after transforming the way it manages waste – the depot has the highest recycling rate across the Group (97%). ScotRail won the Best Rail Operating Company for making its depots and stations more efficient, recycling more waste and improving the fuel efficiency of its fleet.
The awards dinner was attended around 200 senior management from FirstGroup and included representatives from each of First’s UK companies and a number of employees from FirstGroup America. Amongst special external guests included:
Rick Haythornwaite, Chairman of Network Rail
Sir David Higgins, Chief Executive of Network Rail
Ian Prosser, the Chief Inspector of Railways
Paul Thomas, Chair of the Railway Safety and Standards Board
Len Porter, Chief Executive of the Railway Safety and Standards Board
Alex Botha, Chief Executive, British Safety Council
Steve Granger, Immediate Past President, Institution of Occupational Safety & Health
Simon Posner, Chief Executive, Confederation of Passenger Transport
Brian Nimmick, Chief Executive, International Institute of Risk and Safety Management
Simon Bland, HM Principal Inspector, Health and Safety Executive
Safety award winners received around £6,000 in total from FirstGroup to donate to local charities of their choice. Individual winners were rewarded with a weekend away courtesy of First.
For a full list of awards and winners, please see below:
UK Bus – Safety Awards
• Best Large Depot – First Aberdeen
• Best Medium Depot – Slough
• Best Small Depot – Wrexham
• Outstanding Individual Contribution, Jimmy Lillis, Larkfield Depot, First Glasgow
UK Rail – Safety Awards
• Best Large Team – General Management Team West Region, First Great Western
• Best Medium Team – West Region Stations, First Great Western
• Best Small Team – Teeside Stations, First TransPennine Express
• Best Individual Outstanding Contribution to Injury Prevention – Ed Fenton, Train manager, First Great Western
Environmental Awards - Winners
• Best Bus Depot – Skircoat, Halifax
• Best Bus Environmental Initiative – The Green Team, First London
• Best Bus Driver – Angela Overton, First London
• Best Train Operating Company - ScotRail
• Best Rail Environmental Initiative – Oxford Station, First Great Western
• Sustainable Procurement Award (Group wide) - ScotRail