RoSPA Awards : The Judging Process
How the Awards are judged
Awards are made as a result of professional, administrative adjudication under supervision of an independent, expert Adjudication Panel, which is a sub-committee of the RoSPA National Occupational Safety and Health Committee (NOSHC). The current panel includes a number of highly experienced health and safety professionals as well as representatives from the Health and Safety Executive, Engineering Employers’ Federation, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, Society of Occupational Health Nurses, National Examination Board in Occupational Safety & Health, Local Government Employers, Electrical Contractors’ Association and the Trades Union Congress.
The judging process for Achievement Awards is undertaken by the RoSPA Awards team and consultants, starting with an administrative ‘sift’ to allocate entrants to appropriate categories and to ensure required information has been supplied. Data is checked via HSE public databases and entrants may receive random telephone follow-up or a verification visit at any stage in the year, either before or after the closing date
for entries.
Entries for Sector Awards are assessed by independent consultants engaged by RoSPA, liaising with a Panel member(s), to develop a shortlist for consideration by the Panel. This meets in March to decide on the Sector Award winners and commendations (and to advise on marginal cases in the Achievement Awards) – and again in April to consider presentations from the Sector Award winners selected to contend for the Sir George Earle Trophy (SGET). Decisions about whether or not to make an award in a particular industry sector are based on whether the suggested winner has reached a standard that would be clearly recognised as ‘excellent’ by sector peers. When selecting Sector Award winners and the SGET candidates, the Panel gives preference to entries from whole organisations rather than subsidiaries, although account is taken of whether a subsidiary is a distinct and separate business.
Verification
Each year, in addition to commissioning a site visit to the entrants short-listed for the Sir George Earle Trophy, the Society arranges for scrutiny of a random selection of entrants to verify their submissions. RoSPA adjudicators also make reference to Health and Safety Executive databases and other sources to verify information on prosecutions and enforcement notices.
Judging criteria
In deciding the Achievement Award level merited RoSPA takes account of a range of performance indicators. These include measures of occupational health and safety management ‘input’ such as the level of development of systems and culture; measures of health and safety management ‘output’ such as consistent application of risk control measures; and measures of ‘outcome’ such as reductions in near misses, notifiable injuries, the number of days lost, accident and ill health costs etc. Account is also taken of an entrant’s enforcement record.
More attention is paid to other key performance indicators (KPIs) than to lost time accident rates due to the limitations often associated with statistical data. Nevertheless decisions about Awards at higher levels will be influenced by whether or not organisations have experienced significant enforcement action and/or fatal or major injuries for which they were culpable.
Click here to see a 'sample' submission
Gold Award – Entrants would typically need to provide evidence of:
- excellent occupational health and safety management systems (e.g. strong audit results – system used and level achieved e.g. OHSAS 18001 or equivalent) and culture (as demonstrated by answers to the Key Performance Questions)
- a rigorous approach to occupational health
- high levels of compliance with control measures (evidence from active monitoring of performance) for principal risks
- below average and reducing rates of error (e.g. near misses), harm (accidents and work related ill health) and loss (e.g. accident and ill health costs)
- no fatal or major injuries due to employer negligence
- no significant enforcement issues (notices/prosecutions).
Silver Award – would typically be made where the evidence provided shows:
- satisfactory occupational health and safety management systems and culture (as demonstrated by answers to the Key Performance Questions)
- improving compliance with control measures for principal
- risks and action on health issues
- reducing accident rates
- no fatal or major injuries due to employer negligence
- few significant enforcement issues (notices/prosecutions).
Bronze Award – would typically require evidence demonstrating as a minimum that:
- essential occupational health and safety management systems elements were in place (as demonstrated by answers to the Key Performance Questions) but still requiring significant development
- implementation of control measures for principal risks was proceeding (evidence from performance monitoring)
- their accident rate was stable or reducing
- they had no fatal or major injuries (or very few, having regard to the circumstances in which they occurred)
- evidence of learning from any enforcement experience.
Merit Award – would typically involve entrants demonstrating:
- evidence of commitment to developing a health and safety management system
- an action plan to deal with principal risks
- analysis made of accident performance
- few fatal or major injuries (having regard to the circumstances in which they occurred).
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