ROSPA AWARDS 2014
Speaking up for Safety
The annual RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards is one of the most
prestigious events in the UK health and safety calendar. The awards ceremony
acknowledges outstanding achievement in health and safety across all industry
sectors and is internationally recognised as a standard of excellence. Graham
McDonald discovers more about the ceremony and the organisation’s history
T
he Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is
a registered charity that has been at the heart of accident
prevention in the UK and around the world for almost a
hundred years. Across the UK, there are over 14,000 deaths per
year caused by accidents plus millions of other injuries,
many of which are preventable. RoSPA are dedicated to
promoting safety and accident prevention at work,
on the road, during leisure activities and at home,
through safety education. The organisation’s mission
is simple: save lives and reduce injuries.
RoSPA began after a public meeting at Caxton Hall
in 1916. It was decided that a London “Safety First”
council should be elected to tackle the unacceptably
high number of road accidents in the city (which were
directly linked to the imposition of wartime black outs). The safety
council evolved into the organisation that would become known
as RoSPA.
RoSPA has directed many high profile safety campaigns over
the years including: producing a series of workplace safety posters
during World War Two, aimed at improving worker safety in
the industrial factories and workshops supplying the war effort;
the formation of the Tufty Club in 1961, a road safety club for
the under-fives featuring the cartoon character Tufty Fluffytail
(created in 1953 by the late Elsie Mills MBE). RoSPA tirelessly
campaigned throughout the 1970’s to make car seatbelt
use compulsory in the UK - a goal that was finally
achieved in 1981 after years of delays and procedural
setbacks.
O
ther important landmarks in the
organisation’s history include the introduction
of The Highway Code in 1931, with RoSPA
represented on the committee that compiled it and the
publication of the first issue of Occupational Safety & Health in
1971.
In 1991 after a RoSPA five year campaign, the government
agreed to make it mandatory for all electrical appliances to be
sold with fitted plugs and in 2001, RoSPA lobbied for a European
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