Health & Safety

Prioritising Health and Safety at Cawleys

Creating a safe environment for employees, customers and members of the public is essential to the success of our organisation. From exceptional vehicle safety to our indoor thermal imaging and automatic fire suppression system, we implement world-class initiatives to keep everyone safe.

Leaders in Health and Safety - Awards

We beat off thousands of applicants to be awarded and recognised by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) - one of the most prestigious and recognised schemes in the world. 

Our high standard of occupational health and safety management systems and organisational culture is all thanks to our hard work and continuous improvements in safety, health and wellbeing for the benefit of our staff, customers and stakeholders.

Our most recent awards include:

  • 2022 - British Safety Council International Safety Award

  • 2022 - RoSPA Silver Achievement Award

  • 2023 - RoSPA Waste Management & Recycling Industry Sector Award

  • 2023 - RoSPA Fleet Safety Gold Award 

Amanda Clark, Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) Manager, Cawleys said: “Winning these awards demonstrates our outstanding control of risk and high levels of performance within the industry internationally. It is a huge accolade for us as a family run business.”

ISO Standards

We have implemented an integrated safety, health, quality, and environmental management system, which is maintained to the prestigious British Safety Institution standards: ISO 45001:2018, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 9001:2015 and we were successful in obtaining recertification to the above standards in March 2023.

Our commitment to Health and Safety

We are committed to:

  • Providing a safe place of work, safe systems of work, safe work equipment, a safe and healthy working environment and competent co-workers.

  • Ensuring consultation with the workforce on any factors that may affect their health, safety and welfare.

  • Promoting work engagement by providing the opportunity for the workforce to raise safety issues individually or collectively.

We will:

  • Actively promote an open attitude to health and safety issues, encouraging staff to identify and report hazards so that we can all contribute to creating and maintaining a safe working environment.

  • Have a strategic plan and specific objectives and targets that are updated annually and monitored monthly.

  • Regularly monitor our performance and update our health and safety management system to ensure we achieve our objective of continuous improvement.

  • Provide appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision to enable our staff to work safely and effectively.

  • Implement prevention and protective measures to ensure the safety and absence of health risks in connection with use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances.

  • Provide employees with health surveillance where required.

  • Support employees returning to work after sickness / accidents.

  • Ensure management and staff have access to competent health and safety advice.

  • Consult with employees as necessary regarding Health and Safety matters.

  • Take action where standards fall below those expected.

“Safety has and always will be our main priority, these awards are recognition of the whole team effort and the culture that we have created to ensure we keep our employees, customers and the wider community safe.”
— Amanda Clark, Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHEQ) Manager

New Site Safety Measures

  • Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) installed across all sites. Used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, they increase the survival rate by 60 percent.

  • First Aiders - we have recently increased the number of first aiders to 19 and also have 11 Mental Health first aiders across the business.

Our fleet

An exceptionally rigorous maintenance schedule of our fleet has led to an outstanding 98.5% MOT first time pass rate - significantly higher than the national average of 86.73% for commercial vehicles.

Consultation and Contribution

To maintain our strong health and safety ethos across the company, we continue to work hard to ensure that our employees feel involved, informed, and able to contribute.

Staff consultation with employees is managed through regular safety committees, joint consultation groups and an annual safety survey. Operations, communication and consultation is included in induction, one-to-one meetings, formal appraisals, safety working groups and toolbox talks.

DVSA Earned Recognition Scheme

We were the first UK waste company to join the DVSA Earned Recognition Scheme and have Founder Member status. Part of the initial trial programme in 2018, this scheme encourages regular sharing of performance information to prove vehicles meet standards. Our exemplary record highlights the importance we place on keeping our vehicles safe for staff and customers, and our vehicles are less likely to be stopped for inspections as a result.