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Prime Minister Gordon Brown has praised New Charter’s latest safety award.

Following gruelling tests by a strict independent adjudicating panel, New Charter has been given the prestigious International Safety Award by the British Safety Council.

Winners had to show good safety policies, plans and commitment to health and safety at the highest level and demonstrate the organisation plans to improve still further.

Brian Nimick, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council said: “For more than 50 years, we have led the way in promoting health, safety and environmental best practice in society. In the 21st century, many organisations worldwide are now making health and safety a top priority. Through achieving an International Safety Award, New Charter is helping to make our vision of a safer working environment a reality.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown added his support: “I am delighted to send my congratulations to all of those organisations being presented with an award by the British Safety Council. These awards recognise the crucial success that these organisations and their employees have achieved in the pursuit of excellence in the management of health, safety and environmental matters at an international level. I would like to place on record my appreciation of the support given by the Council in raising public awareness of the benefits effective health, safety and environmental management brings to business, employees and the environment and the economy as a whole. We will strive to accomplish our goals in reducing the burden on employers and employees and cutting the 36 million working days currently lost each year through work-related ill-heath and injury.”

The international award follows the coveted Gold award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents which New Charter earned earlier this month.

Group Director of Organisational Development, Christine Amyes said: “We are delighted our group-wide approach to managing risk has attracted this international accolade. Our work spans an immense area of potential risk from lone working of staff through manual handling to construction. We reduced accidents by 57% over the last five years. There were only eleven instances of lost working days caused by accidents last year.”

The award will be presented next month at the Grosvenor House hotel, Park Lane in London.

www.newcharter.co.uk