FOCUS HEALTH & SAFETY
SAFE GROUND
“No job is so urgent or
important that it cannot
be done safely.” This is a core
value, integrated into everything
that Ground Control, which
o ers a wide range of services
including grounds maintenance,
landscape construction and
design, arboriculture and winter
maintenance to commercial
properties across the UK, has and
will always do for years to come.
“It is a way of life and a culture
embedded within the company”
says Angelina Sooren, HSQE Director.
With this in mind, it is of little surprise
that Ground Control was, in March
2020, awarded the (Royal Society for
the Prevention of Accidents) RoSPA
President’s Award a er being awarded
10 consecutive Gold Medals for its high
standards and performance in Health
and Safety.
The awards scheme is the longestrunning
of its kind in the UK. It attracts
2,000 entrants from around the world
every year, making it one of the most
sought-a er global accolades in health
and safety.
Sooren said of the award:
“Winning the President’s Award is
the culmination of our decade-long
commitment to health and safety. With
over 6,000 employees and contractors
working across a range of potentially
hazardous areas such as arboriculture,
40 MAY 2020
landscape construction, fencing and
pest control, this award reflects our
on-going responsibility in investing in
the safety of our people.”
ON THE FRONT LINE
She continues: “Health and Safety is
central to everything we do. Our teams
deliver essential frontline services in
open and dangerous environments
such as working next to power and rail
lines, keeping the country connected
and moving. That’s why last year we
spent £600,000 running 20,000 courses
and assessments to ensure they’re
trained to accurately risk assess and
identify potential hazards they’ll face in
the field – and to be able to formulate
strategies to guarantee safety.
The RoSPA President’s Award
is a benchmark for the continued
excellence of our health & safety and
environment teams. We like to think
of them as the invisible glue that that
keeps everything together.”
“RoSPA wants every employee,
wherever they are, to work safe in the
knowledge that they will be going
home unharmed and healthy at the
end of every day,” said Julia Small,
RoSPA’s Head of Qualifications.
“The RoSPA Award winners are
vital to help achieve this goal, as by
entering they are driving up standards
and setting new benchmarks for
organisations everywhere.”
The outstanding practices
implemented and recognised by RoSPA
were also demonstrated by Ground
Control’s client, the Environment
Agency who awarded Ground Control
with an Exemplar Award.
“We take the awards very seriously.
Year-on-year we look for our next
challenge to improve through
innovation and enhance the teams
that we work with. We prepare for this
all year and plan for years to come. We
have divisional champions who deliver
safety and encourage Field teams to
join our forums. We have regular team
meetings whereby we review all of the
great practices out there and strive to
be industry leaders. This is business
as usual for us and we are proud to be
able to demonstrate all of the great
things we do,” says Sooren.
Over the course of the past 12
months Ground Control has invested
heavily and doubled the size of its
health and safety budget and has
also successfully migrated over to
ISO:45001 .
HEALTH AND SAFETY DURING
COVID-19
All these health and safety measures
have been tested to the core since the
COVID-19 outbreak. Ground control
is following Government advice as it
continues to deliver support services
to customers that include electricity,
gas, water and data utilities providers,
food retailers, government bodies and
care services. Because Ground Control
sta are still operating in many areas,
the team has a full resilience plan
which has been rigorously tested and
the group (Business Continuity Plan)
BCP team meet daily and proactively
consult with all employees across
the group. This includes always
maintaining 2 metre distance at all
times, including when travelling, and
following enhanced hygiene advice.
All of the o ice-based sta work from
home where this is possible, while
sta who are in vulnerable groups or
live with vulnerable groups are being
protected.
“We do not want to put any of our
operatives at risk, therefore we have
created a number of key action points
to include safe operating procedures,
risk assessments, work planning
guidance documentation and mental
health awareness” says Sooren.
GROUND CONTROL HEALTH AND
SAFETY ACTIVITIES
Clients are invited to attend
biodiversity days which include topics
designed to reduce public risk e.g.
tree surveys to mitigate their duty of
care for tree integrity; harmful weed
identification and control; disease and
pest prevention. They are also invited
to attend safety roadshows and
educational days.
HSQE Managers are members of an
array of Safety Groups.
Ground Control delivers courses
internally and virtually, such as
operational activities such as face fit
testing / HAVS and Noise / manual
handling / dust control.
It works with approved third-party
training providers providing enhanced
training for its teams.
Support wellbeing through Mental
health first aiders who are on call
across the business. Further support
via access to on line health care, and
applications to promote mindfulness
and calm stress levels have also been
provided to employees.
Offer live presentations, videos, safety
messages, site audits / HSQE meeting
attendance and company roadshows
to reiterate the importance of Health
& Safety.
Educational days to inspire health,
safety and wellbeing.
Winning the RoSPA President’s Award illustrated Ground Control’s commitment to
establishing safe working practices and environments for its workers. This aim is
more important than ever in supporting staff and clients through the Coronavirus