Dusseldorf, 4 November 2009 – British Sugar has been given the DuPont Safety Award 2009 in the Innovative Approach category. The leading supplier of sugars in the UK received the award for its company-wide personal safety initiative called Safety Performance Discussions.
The company initiated this programme of two-way confidential discussions on personal safety matters between line managers and team members. The initiative is conducted through a computer-based program whereby a number of predetermined safety questions, themes and topics are discussed, and action plans are developed. This approach, conceptualized and implemented by British Sugar employees, enables every employee, including seasonal, temporary and contractual staff, the opportunity for personal one-to-one meetings with their line manager. This initiative has contributed to demonstrable reduction in injury rates of over 70% during the last six years at British Sugar.
DuPont handed out the Safety Awards 2009 at the A+A International Trade Fair and Congress on Safety, Security and Health at Work in Dusseldorf, Germany. More than 55,000 visitors from 64 countries are expected to attend the 4-day fair, to discuss topics relating to safety and to find out about future trends.
“The worldwide demand for protecting lives and the environment is one of the four key megatrends DuPont will intensively focus on with innovation and products in the future,” Koen van Neyghen, President, DuPont Safety Resources, Europe, Middle East and Africa explained. “British Sugar, as a winner of the 2009 DuPont Safety Award for its Safety Performance Discussions initiative, recognizes that a growth-oriented company must not take its focus off of safety or SHE matters – a testament that safety is a business value and catalyst for growth.”
“Health and Safety is of critical importance to our business and my vision is to eliminate all injuries. Safety Performance Discussions play a crucial part in this journey by providing a paperless process for feedback on our standards of behaviour. They have reduced our injuries by providing an open and honest forum for improvement,” said Gino De Jaegher, Managing Director, British Sugar UK & Ireland.
DuPont is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 70 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.
Since 2001, DuPont has been promoting the Safety Forum and Award in order to stimulate safety initiatives in companies around Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as to promote safety in all walks of life.
DuPont is the authority on safe workplaces, with a proven track record in consulting and training in workplace safety and operational excellence. Leveraging the Company’s 200 year history of safety knowledge and experience, DuPont helps leading-edge companies gain sustainable improvement in insurance and operating costs, security, productivity, product quality, public image and employee morale.
British Sugar UK is the leading supplier to the UK and Ireland food and beverage markets. The sole processor of the UK sugar beet crop it produces more than 1 million tonnes of sugar in its 4 factories from 7 million tonnes of sugar beet. The company was the first to manufacture bioethanol in the UK at its Wissington site in Norfolk and seeks to turn all of its inputs into sustainable products.
