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News release

6 October 2011 - 47/11

Language barrier-breaking cartoon invention nets award

A language-crossing cartoon character that was created to protect a multicultural workforce from injury and ill-health has netted a top health and safety award.

The innovation, PePE, is the brainchild of Speedibake. It notched top prize at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) National Food and Drink Health and Safety Awards 2011 for its simple, effective way of protecting a workforce that speaks more than 13 languages.

Born out of a need to develop a universally understandable tool that would show every employee how to stay safe, PePE is a cartoon baker who appears on sign boards in the company’s factories. It shows staff the exact items of personal protective equipment (PPE) they need to wear for any specific task.

One of the driving forces behind the project, Mark Edwards, is operations risk manager for Speedibake, which manufactures frozen bakery products for major supermarkets and food service companies across its sites in West Yorkshire.

After collecting the award on Tuesday night (4 October), he said: “We have a multicultural, multi-language workforce, and because of that, we knew we needed an effective way of getting the PPE safety message through to all our employees, whatever their first language.

“PePE is really making a difference as he uses universally understandable pictures that show exactly what people need to wear for the area of the building they’re in, or the task they’re doing. It’s such a simple concept but it’s proving to be really successful for us.”

Introduced this summer, PePE forms part of the company’s overall Safety First strategy, which has the overarching aim of reducing incidents of injury and ill-health across both factories. Incidents have already dropped from 171 five years ago, to just 22 last year, during which the company only lost seven working days to injury.

Mark added: “One of our main aims is to encourage our front line managers to be more strategic and make informed decisions about safety themselves. With PePE, they are instantly able to tell what equipment offers the right level of protection, and what they should be buying in when new stock is needed.”

IOSH chief executive Rob Strange OBE said: “Every year we’re on the look out for innovations that primarily save lives, but also make sense by making health and safety approachable and easier for staff to understand and live by. Speedibake ticks those boxes.

“Good health and safety also saves money, whether that’s through streamlining processes, reducing lost time, or saving on waste. And what we found here is an example of something that will also reap financial rewards in the long term.”

The awards are a joint-initiative with IOSH, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Food and Drink Manufacture Health and Safety Forum, and form part of IOSH’s annual national food and drink manufacturing conference, held this year in Nottingham on Tuesday 4 and Wednesday 5 October. The conference is organised in partnership with HSE and the Forum.

Across the rest of the two days, the event featured speakers from giants of the food and drink manufacturing world, as well as the chair of the HSE, Judith Hackitt CBE, who spoke about the future of health and safety on a tighter public sector budget.

Speaking about the conference, IOSH Food and Drink Group chair Neil Catton said: “During the last two days I’ve seen companies talking about their bright ideas which are putting health and safety at the centre of company success. And that’s because when it’s done right, it makes for a happy and healthy workforce and a bottom line that isn’t eaten into by preventable accidents.”

- Ends -

Notes for editors:

IOSH is the Chartered body for health and safety professionals. With more than 40,000 members in 85 countries, we’re the world’s biggest professional health and safety organisation.

We set standards, and support, develop and connect our members with resources, guidance, events and training. We’re the voice of the profession, and campaign on issues that affect millions of working people.

IOSH was founded in 1945 and is a registered charity with international NGO status.