Member Article

Top safety accreditation for Biochemica

Billingham based water treatment specialist, Biochemica UK Ltd has been awarded accreditation from safecontractor for its commitment to achieving excellence in health and safety.

safecontractor is a leading third party accreditation scheme which recognises very high standards in health and safety management amongst UK contractors.

Biochemica is the North East’s largest privately owned water treatment firm and provides the full spectrum of water management services as one of the few companies in the UK offering both influent and effluent solutions.

Specialising in cooling water, boiler water, closed loop applications, Legionella control and wastewater services, as well as the supply of water treatment chemicals, Biochemica operates across multiple industries which demand a diligent approach to health and safety. With clients within the automotive, chemical, food process, aggregates, steel making and pharmaceuticals industries, Biochemica has enjoyed significant growth and continues to expand year-on-year.

The company’s application for safecontractor accreditation was driven by the need for a uniform standard across the business as it strives to target new markets.

Health, Safety and Environment Manager at Biochemica, Stephen Andrew said: “At Biochemica we take a stringent and unified approach to exceeding high standards of health and safety to the benefit of our workforce, clients and stakeholders.

“The safecontractor accreditation is our latest effort in demonstrating this and complements our existing OHSAS 18001 standard and membership to the Contractors Health and Safety Scheme (CHAS).”

safecontractor accreditation will enhance the company’s ability to attract new contracts and its commitment to safety will be viewed positively by its insurers when the company liability policy is up for renewal.

safecontractor is applicable to most sectors although it is particularly relevant to food manufacture, property, facilities management, retail and leisure sectors, all of which are big users of contracted services.

John Kinge, Technical Director of safecontractor said: “Major organisations simply cannot afford to run the risk of employing contractors who are not able to prove that they have sound health and safety policies in place.

“More companies need to understand the importance of adopting good risk management in the way that Biochemica has done. The firm’s high standard has set an example which hopefully will be followed by other companies within the sector.

“safecontractor plays a vital role in supporting our clients in meeting their compliance needs, whilst working with their contractors as they progress through the accreditation process.”

Under the safecontractor scheme, businesses undergo a vetting process which examines health and safety procedures and their track record for safe practice. Those companies meeting the high standard are included on a database, which is accessible to registered users only via a website.

Client-organisations who sign up to the scheme can access the database, enabling them to vet potential contractors before they even set foot on site. These clients agree that, as users of the scheme, they will engage only those who have received accreditation.

Over 170 major nationwide businesses, from several key sectors, have signed up to use the scheme when selecting contractors for services such as building, cleaning, maintenance, refurbishment or electrical and mechanical work.

For further information about Biochemica UK Ltd, please visit www.biochemica.co.uk, call 08455 045440 or email info@biochemica.co.uk. You can also find Biochemica on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ and Twitter by searching Biochemica UK Ltd.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Biochemica UK Ltd .