5 Years Without a Lost Time Accident at ICL UK Sales

(L-R) Mark Wilson, Glenn Ridsdale and Howard Clark

A celebration event has been held at the Riverside Stadium home of the Boro, but it was nothing to do with on-field success. It was to mark the attainment of five years without a lost time accident (LTA) by the Tees Dock-based workforce of ICL UK Sales.

The entire 50-strong staff were invited to the presentation which was opened by a surprise short film of congratulations from Aviv Bar Tal [sic], ICL’s vice president of Marketing, Sales and Logistics, Europe.

Mark Wilson, Logistics and Supply Chain Manager, presented a slide show showing how the safety record at Tees Dock had improved dramatically over the past ten years. Afterwards he said: “Shipping has always been a high-pressure industry and historically speed was of the utmost importance. We decided to change that culture to the point where now if a job can’t be done safely it doesn’t get done until we can make it safe.”

Staff receive a plaque

This ethos has been backed up by monthly safety targets and weekly safety briefings. Howard Clark, UK Sales and Marketing Director, has led the drive towards greater safety: “It has to be of paramount importance that the workforce can go home to their friends and family at the end of the working day. So, under the belief that ‘you can teach an old dog new tricks’, we have managed to go five years without a single LTA. And in that time productivity has increased.” To mark the achievement he awarded a plaque to a representative cross section of Tees Dock staff.

The main speaker, Glenn Ridsdale, Director of Gauged Solutions a leading local health and safety and risk management consultancy gave an inspirational address and praised the workforce for, “…a great achievement.”

Afterwards there was a tour of the ground, drinks and a meal.