Award boosts Nottingham company's reputation for health and safety

A science equipment and chemicals supplier from Nottingham has received a welcome boost to its reputation for health and safety.

Scientific Laboratory Supplies (SLS) has been presented with an excellence award from an assessment scheme provided by SafeContractor.

The operations director for the company, Peter Lister, said the firm had applied for accreditation from SafeContractor so that it could retain a high standard across the whole of the business. Lister added that the award would reassure existing customers and would also help the company to entice new contracts.

SLS provides a logistics and warehousing service all over the UK, in addition to over 70 other countries. The firm is closely connected to some of the most well known names in the industry, including Roche, Eppendorf, and Thermo Scientific.

To achieve the award, a company has to be thoroughly vetted, with the focus being on the firm's procedures for health and safety and its track record for safe practices. The businesses that secure the award are listed on a database for registered users.

The technical director of SafeContractor, John Kinge, said that he hoped that more companies would adopt the risk management procedures that SLS has. He added that clients could sign up to the website so that they could access the database, checking a potential contractor before they hire them. The scheme has been adopted by more than 210 major companies from all over the UK.

Risk management may include the use of PPE or other practices to prevent illness or injury in the workplace.