A health & safety consultant from law firm Ellis Whittam visited the multi discipline surveying firm’s offices in St Andrews, Dunfermline, Perth and Dundee, to carry out annual health & safety audits.

Judith Darnell, business & HR manager at Hardies St Andrews, who liaised with the consultants during their visit, said: “We are delighted that the health & safety experts were pleased with the practices they found in the day to day operation in our offices. Health and safety services to the construction industry is one of our major sectors here at Hardies, from site audits, safety awareness courses and site specific induction talks to deploying a full safety, quality & environmental management system for small to medium contractors.”

Judith added: “Obviously we want to take care of our employees, and so workplace safety is very important in an office environment as is also ensuring that we meet all of the required legislation.

“Carrying out quarterly audits in all of our offices to ensure we maintain our standards for both health & safety and fire risk is key to ensuring safety and raising awareness of the requirements with those responsible in each office.”

Steve Ashton, health & safety consultant at Ellis Whittam, said: “It was a genuine pleasure for me to meet with Judith during the health and safety assessment for Hardies’ premises. I have worked in health and safety for over thirty five years in a very wide variety of businesses and can honestly say the standards assessed on Friday are perhaps the best I have ever encountered anywhere.”

Steve added: “I note specifically that the records being held showing routine tests and examinations are accurate, show no gaps, and are obviously being maintained conscientiously. I was particularly impressed by the use of deputies to ensure that weekly checks are completed on schedule, even when the primary checker is absent for any reason. This alone is something I cannot recall seeing previously, even in large sites with high potential for major incidents.

“I have recalibrated my internal ‘standards’ to reflect what ‘good’ looks like when knowledgeable and conscientious management treat health and safety with the priority it deserves.”

Judith added: “With the help of Ellis Whittam, we have developed robust and efficient health and safety systems, and they continue to work with us, to keep up these exceptional standards. It’s very reassuring for our colleagues, clients and anyone connected with our business to know that our systems are working well and we will strive to maintain these high standards.”