The 33rd National Irish Safety Organisation / Northern Ireland Safety Group (NISO/NISG) Annual Safety Awards once again recognised a number of Ireland’s leading companies, from a wide variety of industries, in a special ceremony in Killarney last month. The Awards are highly valued and regarded among health and safety professionals throughout the island of Ireland, and are seen by companies, clients and employees as a sign of extremely high standards in health and safety.
“The All Ireland Occupational Safety Awards was established nationally back in 1992 with 20 entries and has grown to become Ireland’s premier safety awards,” commented Fergal McKevitt, president, NISO. “These awards truly became an All-Ireland affair when the Northern Ireland Safety Group (NISG) joined forces with the National Irish Safety Organisation (NISO) in 1995.
“The Awards stands as a testament to recognise how organisations manage health and safety at work. Winning a NISO/NISG Award demonstrates the positive and proactive culture of safety management that exists within your business.”
The key aim of the awards is to raise awareness of related safety and health issues and share best practice
Ryobi Aluminium Casting (UK) Ltd was the big winner on the night, taking home the Supreme Safety Award for 2024, sponsored by Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery. The Supreme Safety Award is presented to the organisation that has shown consistently good or continuously improving health and safety performance over a number of years and an outstanding contribution to occupational safety, health and welfare during the previous year. Ryobi Aluminium Casting also received a Consistent High Achiever Award, which is given to companies that have achieved a Distinction level or above for five consecutive years.
“The 2024 NISG/NISO awards saw another successful year, evidenced by an increase in the standards reached by many of the entrants,” said Wendy Beatty, chair, NISG. “This year a small percentage separated the organisations at the top and we were extremely happy to see Ryobi Aluminium Casting claim the supreme award. A first for Northern Ireland!
“The Awards showcase the high levels of commitment shown to occupational safety and health by businesses both large and small across the island of Ireland. The Awards dinner brings companies and their safety teams together to celebrate all the good work that is being completed throughout the year and we congratulate all the entrants on their success.”
Other awards presented on the night include the Safety Representative of the Year Award 2024 in association with The Cpl Institute. The joint winners of the Safety Representative of the Year Award for 2024 were Mihail Cazac, Shareridge Civil Engineering and Derek Russell, Collen Construction. The Runner-Up prize was awarded to Ronan Molloy, Baxter Healthcare.
The Healthy Workplace Award, sponsored by Healthy Ireland, and the Occupational Health Award, supported by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), were won by John Graham Construction Ltd.
“Health is created and lived by people within the settings of their everyday life; where they learn, work, play, and love,” said Chief Medical Officer Professor Mary Horgan. “The development of a Healthy Workplace website under the National Framework for Healthy Workplaces has highlighted this. Mindful of the need for partnership to drive change, I appreciate the importance of Healthy Ireland’s involvement with NISO and their recognition of workplace wellbeing into their annual awards. Again this year, we were impressed with the numbers of organisations working to integrate wellbeing into the health and safety agenda in their workplace.
“On behalf of Healthy Ireland, I would like to congratulate John Graham Construction Ltd for winning the Healthy Workplace Award for a second year running for working tirelessly to promote the wellbeing of their staff. I would also like to thank NISO for their ongoing support in raising awareness of the Healthy Workplace Framework and website.”
The Driving for Work Award was won by Actavo (Ireland). The Driving for Work Award requires entrants to demonstrate evidence of policy, planning, practice, performance measurement and performance review in relation to driving for work.
The awards, which demonstrate the positive and proactive culture of safety management in organisations, are supported by the Construction Industry Federation, Health and Safety Authority, Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, Healthy Ireland and Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery.
Conor O’Brien, chief executive, Health and Safety Authority, along with Fergal McKevitt, NISO president and Wendy Beatty, chair, NISG, presented awards to over 100 organisations from all around the island of Ireland. The Gold Award was won by Winthrop Technologies Ltd, the Silver Award by Actavo (Ireland) and the Bronze Award by John Sisk and Son (Holdings) Ltd.
“The key aim of the awards is to raise awareness of related safety and health issues and share best practice,” said McKevitt. “Congratulations are due to all the entrants who continue to showcase their efforts to pursue the highest standards of health and safety in their organisation.
“Every year, companies who put together their detailed submissions have shown commitment to ongoing improvement in health, safety and wellbeing. And the night itself is a great opportunity to mix with like-minded individuals who are year on year raising the standards for health and safety and show their determination to keep working to reduce the number of workplace incidents.”