Independent secure shredding company, Russell Richardson has joined the latest group of successful companies to join a leading health and safety scheme, designed to help industry improve its safety record.
The Sheffield-based firm recently received accreditation from SAFEcontractor, a programme which recognises very high standards of health and safety practise amongst UK contractors. Employing 20 people, Russell Richardson is principally involved in the secure disposal and shredding of commercial information in compliance with the Data Protection Act.
The company's application for SAFEcontractor accreditation was driven by the need for a uniform standard for health and safety across the business. Jonathan Richardson, managing director of Russell Richardson, comments: "Working in the secure shredding industry for over 33 years, it has always been our aim to achieve the highest levels of accreditations in particular with regards to our policies and procedures. Therefore, it seemed a natural progression to ensure that all our clients and employees were reassured that we can meet both the highest levels of health and safety as well as security."
A founding member of the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) Europe and The Security Alliance, Russell Richardson takes security seriously and adheres to strict standards set out in BS EN15713:2009, the European standard for the destruction of confidential information and operates to ISO9001:2008.
SAFEcontractor accreditation is expected to further enhance the company's ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company liability policy is up for renewal. Applicable to most sectors, SAFEcontractor is particularly relevant to property, facilities management, food manufacture, retail and leisure sectors, all of which are big users of contract services.
John Kinge, Head of Risk at SAFEcontractor said: "Major organisations can no longer run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies.
"More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Russell Richardson has done. The firm's high standard has set an example, which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector."
Under the SAFEcontractor system, businesses undergo a vetting process, which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website, www.safecontractor.com. Employer-organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, enabling them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These employers agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation.
Over one hundred and fifty major nation-wide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.