Promoting a Safe and Healthy Working Environment

Yorkon, as part of the Portakabin Group, is accredited to OHSAS 18001 for design and manufacture - the internationally-recognised standard for occupational health and safety management.

The OHSAS standard promotes a safe and healthy working environment by providing a framework that allows an organisation to constantly evaluate and manage its health and safety risks, significantly reducing the potential for accidents, helping legislative compliance and improving overall performance.

Off-site construction already offers significant health and safety benefits compared to site-based building methods. By taking a responsible and forward-thinking approach to health and safety management, Yorkon can reduce the risk of accidents and injury even further. Harrogate hospital

The independently audited OHSAS accreditation gives you even greater peace of mind that Yorkon has robust and best practice procedures in place across the business and at every level. The OHSAS certification is a powerful tool that allows organisations to focus their health and safety management on internationally-accepted criteria. It is a proactive solution to reducing risk at every level and further improving business efficiency.

Yorkon initiatives include:

Employees at every level are involved in writing procedures, including the production and site teams, to ensure the most effective systems are in place and that everyone is fully engaged
Health and safety procedures are promoted via bulletins and ongoing information campaigns to create behavioural safety awareness
Objectives and targets are set and the results shared across the business
There is an open door policy to health and safety, and near miss reporting is actively encouraged
Our overall vision is to have an accident and incident-free workplace.

Health and Safety Approach

Yorkon considers the health, safety and welfare of its employees, subcontractors and members of the public who come into contact with our operations to be of paramount importance.

The Directors have formal duties under the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and all regulations and approved codes of practice made under the Act, which they fulfil in their entirety. Ninestiles school

The business is striving to exceed its minimum legal duties and to make a real difference in its approach to health and safety. Some of the ways this is achieved are set out below:-

Maximising the amount of work done in the factory, mostly at "bench height", thus minimising the risks of working at height.
Using a selection process for subcontractors which includes a health and safety audit.
Ensuring that all those working on a Yorkon site undergo a formal site safety induction before they start work.
Giving a behavioural health and safety presentation as part of the site induction to make them think about the dangers to themselves and their workmates.
Provision of a health and safety booklet to every employee on every site as part of the site induction.
Regular weekly toolbox talks on potential risks.
A "Don't walk by" card system to allow site workers to report health and safety concerns anonymously, if they wish to.
Fortnightly site safety inspections by independent external health and safety consultants, with reports issued on a "warts and all" basis so that senior management can have a true picture of the safety status of any site.
Monthly management health and safety meetings to review performance and explore ways of reducing risk.
Monthly reports to directors include not just accident statistics but also reports on health and safety risk factors and their causes.
Introduction of a roof edge protection system to reduce dramatically the risks from working at height.

One of the successes from this approach has been the Emerson's Green Health project which recorded 120,000 accident free man hours.