BSS leads sector with health and safety partnership
The BSS Group plc, a leading distributor to specialist trades, has become the first in its sector to sign up to a Primary Authority partnership to ensure consistent application of health and safety standards across hundreds of sites.
The Group, with headquarters in Leicester, employs almost 5,000 people and has over 400 trading branches. It entered the agreement with Leeds City Council which now becomes its single point of contact for health and safety regulation.
Primary Authority enforcement enables companies to improve and monitor health and safety performance in partnership with a single local authority, with one point of contact to identify and resolve key health and safety issues.
Clive Grace, Chairman of LBRO, the public body that administers Primary Authority nationally, said: "BSS is leading the distribution sector with this agreement, which will help ensure the highest standards of protection at work across the company's large number of sites.
"This is a ‘win-win' for BSS and its employees, and for Leeds City Council. By eliminating unnecessary burdens, Primary Authority helps ensure the enforcement process runs more efficiently for both the business and the council, allowing them both to use their resources more efficiently."
The Primary Local Authority is able to influence, or even stop, enforcement actions by other Local Authorities where this would be inconsistent with the health and safety action plan agreed with the company.
Steve Wood, Service Manager for Leeds City Council, said: "This Primary Authority agreement is really about sensible risk management: making sure that the things most likely to cause injury or work-related ill-health are prioritised and dealt with in a comprehensive, planned way across the whole of the organisation's 400+ sites. By entering into this partnership BSS Group are demonstrating that they do not want to be part of the problem of injury and ill-health at work, they very much want very much to be part of the solution."
Sue Smith, Group Health and Safety Manager for the BSS Group plc, said: "We are delighted to have become one of the first major distributors to sign up to the Primary Authority Scheme. The BSS Group places health and safety at the very heart of its organisation. We anticipate a close working relationship with Leeds City Council to formulate an annual inspection plan which will ensure our health and safety standards remain amongst the best in the industry."
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