TRADE associations that support small businesses with health and safety advice are being urged to register for a specialist award.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) awards the SME Assistance Trophy to an association which has shown outstanding effort in helping small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) reach occupational health standards.
The trophy will be presented as part of RoSPA’s Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2013. Ceremonies will take place alongside the Safety and Health Expo in Birmingham in May and in Glasgow in September.
Businesses, trade associations and other bodies can nominate entrants for the trophy before the January 19 deadline.
Judges will be looking for needs-led services that have been developed with input from SMEs, along with the use of novel methods of intervention.
Roger Bibbings, RoSPA’s occupational safety adviser, said: “As it is widely acknowledged that SMEs need help and support to enable them to manage health and safety successfully, RoSPA is delighted to recognise a trade association or similar body that has made the most outstanding contribution in this respect.
“Interventions that are sustainable and capable of replication in other settings will be looked upon favourably by the judges.
“Organisations that go the extra mile to help SMEs not only save lives, reduce injuries and prevent ill health but also help to show that good health and safety is good business.”
The Mineral Products Association scooped the SME Assistance Trophy at the 2012 RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards, while the Chemical Business Association was highly commended and the Hire Association Europe was commended.
This year, entrants will submit their entries online for the first time, using web technology through the RoSPA website.
The RoSPA 2013 Awards are sponsored by NEBOSH - the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health.
Full details on how to send a nomination for the SME Assistance Trophy are available at rospa.com/awards/whichaward/sme-assistance-trophy.aspx, by calling 0121 248 2090 or emailing awards@rospa.com
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