CSG Health & Safety Week 2021
19 October 2021 by CSG
People are one of CSG’s core four pillars, our employees make CSG what it is today. Protecting our employees’ health and safety, improving wellbeing, and developing knowledge, talents and expertise is an integral part of CSG.
CSG’s annual Health and Safety Week is thus a highly anticipated event on the calendar. This year was extra special, as the celebrations last year had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
Sarah Taylor, Compliance Manager at CSG said:
“Teamwork and communication between people and teams in our diverse business is a key factor to CSG’s success.”
“To emphasise the spirit of togetherness in CSG we wanted to bring people together again. The pandemic prevented us from seeing each other as much as we would have liked. Additionally, opportunities for employees to see other parts of the business have been limited in the last year.”
“During Health and Safety Week, CSG facilitated work-shadowing opportunities. This allowed employees to get out and about, meet new people and say hello to some familiar faces.”
“We all work together to keep each other safe in the workplace. Giving employees the opportunity to see different functions of the business improves people’s understanding of how their role impacts others at CSG.”
“It also enhances communication between management and the workforce, different departments, and different locations. In turn, this helps to improve working relationships and promote best practices.”
Craig Dufferwiel, Regional Business Manager in Teesside, added:
“This is a good exercise. It is easy for the different functions of the business to sit in their own bubble. Work-shadowing helps people understand what other people in the business do, or how their role impacts on the roles of others.”
“I have shadowed many colleagues in a variety of functions over the years. It helps me understand the responsibilities my employees have day-to-day. For example, when we acquired Recyc-Oil in 2016 I spent time in the treatment plant with the operators, and out on the road with the drivers. I knew what their roles involved, but also how it differed from what we were doing in Teesside. It helped me understand what they needed from me as a manager and how I could support them with their jobs.”
Employees on their work-shadowing experiences
“I am always harassing the lads on site for paperwork so that we can invoice the customer. After having spent a day with them accepting loads in Artic wagons, I now realise it is harder than I thought. I did not know how time-consuming it is to check that all drums and IBCs entering the plant match the consignment note, or how often there are discrepancies which need resolving. I will definitely give the lads more time from now to check the loads before I chase them for paperwork.”
Cathy Jones has worked as a Chemist at Cadishead for 15 years but had never visited another site. During Health and Safety Week she decided to visit the chemists in Sheffield.
“We sometimes receive waste from Sheffield. Visiting them has definitely helped me understand their waste process better. It was interesting to see how they offloaded tankers and purified waste oil differently from us. Chatting to other people in CSG was a nice bonus to the day.”
Mick Latham, Production Manager at CSG Recovery, also visited Sheffield during Health and Safety Week.
“I enjoy visiting other sites, it is a good way of catching up with colleagues and seeing how their site is doing. You share experiences and are able to pick up ideas that you can apply to your own site.”
“At Sheffield, it was nice to see the improvements to the welfare facilities and the new lab. It had improved the efficiency of the site and the wellbeing of the employees there.”
Dominic Allen, EHS Administrator,
“My role in Health and Safety requires communication with employees in different roles across the business. I am trying to gain a better understanding of the Field Sales team and how they operate, both on customers’ sites and on CSG sites with our chemists. I spoke with people from the sales department and visited the lab to speak with our chemists. I have gained a better understanding of our waste sampling procedures both on our sites and those of our customers.”
John-Ross Charlton, Site Chemist at Middlesbrough, oversaw some of the work-shadowing during Health & Safety week.
“I am an advocate for work-shadowing to become a regular part of CSG’s operations. It will help employees keep up to date with changes in the waste industry, which is always evolving. It will also help employees to better understand CSG operations, and boost communication internally between different teams.”
Steve Hicks, HR director & chair of CSG’s H&S Committee
“The 2021 Health and Safety Week has been very successful. Staff from across the business took part in the work-shadowing opportunity. Several employees have expressed an interest in continuing the work-shadowing programme, having found it both enjoyable and informative”
“We will never have a finished definition of what Health and Safety means for CSG. It is a process of continuous maintenance and evaluation of our procedures. Work-shadowing and other innovative ideas can help identify areas of improvement. They are a key part of our work to achieve higher safety standards and improve the wellbeing of our employees.”
