Melissa Fazackerley, the current SHEQ Manager of Longworth Building Services Ltd, has held a succession of health and safety roles and has recently been included among Health and Safety at Work magazine’s listing of 40 under 40 achievers – an outstanding achievement. Throughout her impressive career, there is one thing that Melissa has continually attained for each of her employers; a RoSPA Health & Safety Award. In fact, for the past 10 years, Melissa has been involved in the RoSPA Awards, encouraging her employers to enter year after year.
We recently caught up with Melissa to find out a little bit more about her RoSPA Awards experience, and if she has any hints or tips for future entrants.
What motivates you/your organisation to enter the RoSPA Awards?
Since early in my career I have seen the benefits of achieving a RoSPA Award. To me, the awards are a way of acknowledging the successful health and safety management within an organisation and to give its employees a pat on the back to show what hard work can achieve.
What benefits does winning a RoSPA Award have for you/your organisation?
Winning a RoSPA award means that our organisation is recognised, externally, for excellent health and safety management, which is a great indicator to our clients and supply chain as to how seriously we take health and safety.
I have always encouraged employers to enter for a RoSPA Award when I have joined them, as it allows them to monitor both my progress as a health and safety professional, as well as providing a benchmark to measure our effectiveness against year-on-year.
I have convinced Longworth to enter the 2019 RoSPA awards and we have everything crossed for a Gold Achievement Award. Whatever we achieve is a great starting point to show the directors and colleagues what we have achieved in the last 12 months, and gives us some direction in line with our strategy.
What do you enjoy most about the RoSPA Awards process?
Each year’s application is a chance for me to reflect on the impact I’ve had on an organisation, and the excellent standards we hold as a team. Sometimes it’s easy to forget all of the great work that is put into something throughout the year. I get excited about the new challenges we have come up against as well as the inspirational incentives and drivers.
What do you think an applicant could do over the year to keep drafting an awards submission simple?
Ideally, and this is something I should follow myself, set up an electronic folder and continue to drop supporting documents in there throughout the year. When it comes to compiling the submission, if I find the information isn’t relevant, then it’s easy to remove but finding the documents retrospectively can take time. I would suggest looking at previous year’s submissions and application forms and speaking to other companies who have achieved a RoSPA Award, it’s a good idea to share best practice. It all contributes to an improvement in the health and safety industry and beyond.
Have you used the reflective practice involved in drafting a submission for CPD purposes?
Yes. Because it is a thorough process it is great for reflecting on what has been achieved during the past 12 months, and the awards submission is a solid piece of evidence to support the CPD. As part of my CPD, I use the awards submission as a personal planning and development tool.
What advice would you give to organisations considering entering the awards for the first time, or how would you convince organisations not entering the awards to start entering?
It’s a simple process, but it might be easy to scare yourself into thinking it’s complicated, but it really isn’t. Yes, it does take some time to complete the submission but it is something you can dip in and out of using the online facility. It is well worth it and it is a thorough assessment process, which means it is not just a simple box-ticking exercise. It will promote development, reflection and lead to best practice within an organisation. Good health and safety is good business, it makes sense.
Does your organisation have what it takes to earn a RoSPA Awards? Register today and get the recognition your organisation truly deserves. For more help and advice, take a look at our previous blogs, or get in touch with our Awards Team.