Applications open for national safety awards

Applications for the National Safety Awards 2010 are now open, providing an opportunity for employers to vie for the coveted award which has become a benchmark of an organisation that safeguards its employees by maintaining high safety standards. The prestigious award, evolved and sponsored by AVIVA NDB Insurance, is held every two years in collaboration with the Department of Labour and the Employees Trust Fund Board.

Short listing of applications received for the National Safety Awards will commence after June 30, the final date on which completed applications have to be submitted.

Applicants are required to fill in a questionnaire which is then carefully validated by a team of top safety professionals who conduct site visits. Participants gain a great deal on evaluating the safety measures in their workplace because they are required to submit documents related to safety systems in place, injury records, investigations of accidents, fire protection and other methods of ensuring safety for employees.

Usually over a 100 corporate organisations vie for the award and only 21 winners are selected.

All island awards are open for large scale (over 250 employees), medium scale(125-249 employees) and small scale (25-124 employees) organisations.

In addition sector awards are open for organisations engaged in plantation, apparel, manufacturing, processing and engineering services.

The final presentation of awards for the year 2010 will be held in October. "Our objective is to make all employers realize the importance of creating a safe working environment not only to safeguard employees, but also to appreciate that safety in the workplace results in improved productivity and profitability which makes good business sense and yields significant economic benefits to the nation" explained AGM Marketing Amal Perera.