Lanes reaches final of H&S Awards

Lanes for Drains reached the finals of the Society of British Water and Wastewater Industries’ (SBWWI) health and safety awards, thanks to an impeccable track record — and an innovative safety management system.

The Lanes Group has over 800 employees and operates from 20 depots across the country. That’s a substantial workforce to train and a wide geographical area to oversee, but as H&S manager John Glover explains, Lanes’ unique ‘traffic light’ system makes the process very straightforward:

“Our point of works assessment uses a traffic light system of tick boxes. Quite simply, if the answer to any question results in ticking a red box, work stops until a green box can be checked.

“If a yellow box is ticked, work is suspended until the right equipment or materials are obtained to carry out the work safely. And obviously, if everything’s green, it means go ahead. It couldn’t be easier.”

“In addition to that, we operate Safe System of Work packs which are kept in every single vehicle. Our safety culture is so strong that everyone, from directors to operatives inspects, checks and reports on safety.”

Lanes has spent more than £250,000 in the last financial year on health and safety personnel, training and systems, and is two years into a five-year plan which will see a year on year increase in resource and overall commitment. Wayne Earnshaw, managing director, adds:

“At Lanes, we’ve always been big on health and safety. As a result, our safety record is second to none, and we’re very proud of that. It’s a reflection of just how much time and effort we put into our staff and systems, and we believe it’s one of the reasons for our fantastic success and growth. Getting to the finals of the SBWWI awards was a great accomplishment for us.”

Ray Doughty, Chairman of SBWWI, says:

“Our judging criteria is exacting and the standards are very high. Companies have to demonstrate not just a robust and high quality safety management system but also consistently excellent or continuously improving health and safety performance. Lanes is justified in taking real pride in its achievement.”