British Safety Council’s International Safety Awards 2023 are now open

The International Safety Awards are an internationally recognised accolade for health, safety and wellbeing excellence and this year will be the 65th year they have taken place. The awards recognise an organisation’s commitment to excellent standards of health, safety and wellbeing management. Entries have now opened for the 2023 awards.

In 2022, 549 organisations of all sizes, types and sectors won an International Safety Award. The winners included businesses from the UK, Africa, Asia, India, mainland Europe and the Middle East. A full list of 2022’s winners can be found here.

Businesses of all sizes, types and sectors around the world can apply. There are 12 award categories for 2023, including seven that are free to enter and three additional categories that are new and free for Indian businesses to enter this year.

Launching the International Safety Awards for 2023, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, Mike Robinson said:

“As we continue to emerge from the Covid pandemic, the importance of everyone’s health, safety and wellbeing at work has never been more at the forefront of people’s minds. So, it is only right that we pause to celebrate the massive contribution people who work every day to prevent accidents, injuries and ill health in their workplaces have made this year.

“The British Safety Council’s prestigious International Safety Awards offer companies, teams and individuals the chance to be recognised for their hard work and achievements in protecting and enhancing the health, safety and wellbeing of their organisations’ workers. I urge all organisations and leaders around the world who are proud of their track record to put themselves forward for an award in 2023.”

Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, Mike Robinson

Businesses applying can be recognised as ‘best in class’ across four categories:

The Sector Awards will recognise overall ‘best in class’ submissions by organisations to the International Safety Awards, by industry sector category
The Best in Country Awards will recognise the highest scoring and best overall application from individual countries where there are more than four applications from the given country
Best in Company Award is for organisations with 50 or more participating sites and recognises the site(s) with the most outstanding applications
Chief Adjudicator’s Award will recognise the most outstanding applications from this year’s entrants. Previous winners have been exemplars in their respective areas and evidenced this through their application responses.

Winners of the Sector and Best in Country will only be awarded where there is an applicant who has achieved a Distinction in their 2023 International Safety Award application.

Seven of the awards are completely free-to-enter with three new additional categories that are free for Indian businesses to enter this year whether or not they have applied for an International Safety Award. These are:

Best Contractor Safety Initiative: This recognises organisations based in India, that have implemented a significant initiative to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of the contractual workforce, which was started and concluded between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021
Best Fire Safety Initiative: This recognises organisations based in India that have developed and implemented innovative policies and processes, which were started and concluded between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021, to enhance fire safety in the workplace
Outstanding Road Safety Initiative Outside Work Premises: This is aimed at organisations based in India and rewards them for pioneering initiatives they have undertaken to enhance road safety outside work premises in the supply chain between 1 January and 31 December 2021.

Applications and nominations for the wider free-to-enter awards are invited regardless of whether an organisation is applying for an International Safety Award. These are:

Seize the Opportunity Award: This award recognises organisations that have gone the extra mile to seize health, safety or wellbeing opportunities resulting from a crisis.
CEO Award: This recognises the leadership and strategic vision of CEOs who have made a vital contribution to the health, safety and wellbeing of their business and to the wider society during 2022. The award recognises how an individual CEO has taken an active role in aligning and championing their organisation’s health, safety and wellbeing interests with their internal and external stakeholders.
Health and Safety Transformation Award – sponsored by Croner-i: The Health and Safety Transformation Award is for organisations that have significantly changed or transformed any aspect of health, safety or wellbeing to a significant extent through the use of information.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Ambassador of the Year Award: This recognises an employee who, in the opinion of the organisation or person nominating them, has played a significant role in ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of colleagues and others.
Team of the Year Award: This recognises outstanding achievements resulting in a significant improvement to health, safety or wellbeing, from a collaboration of stakeholders, which may include members of the organisation, suppliers, subcontractors and/or the wider community.
The James Tye Award: This recognises an organisation or a team of individuals who have developed and run a campaign in 2022 that has made a significant impact on health, safety or wellbeing in the workplace. It is named after British Safety Council’s founder, James Tye, who campaigned tirelessly on issues such as life jackets and seat belts.
Wellbeing Initiative Award – powered by Being Well Together: This recognises and rewards those organisations that have demonstrated a proactive and effective approach to improving employee wellbeing.