BRIGHOUSE-based specialist wire fabricator Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd has scooped a top prize.
The company triumphed at the Live Wire Awards ceremony – a national event focused on improving health and safety at work for people employed in the UK wire industries.
All of the UK’s major wire industry employers are members of Live Wire – and Siddall & Hilton Products has supported the concept since its launch four years ago.
The Live Wire Health & Safety Award is sponsored by Tata Steel and recognises firms which encourage employees to embrace health and safety at all levels, share best practice across the industry and come up with ideas which improve health and safety in the wire industry.
Siddall & Hilton Products’ winning presentation was made by production supervisor Gareth Bush and production operative Simon Edwards.
They put forward a working solution for an issue experienced throughout the industry – the safe storage of rod and coil wire.
It is common practice in the wire industry to stack one, two and even five tonne coils as many as five high, using wooden chocks to prevent lateral movement.
Siddall & Hilton Products said this practice had been the subject of numerous “near miss” health and safety reports – prompting the company to assemble a task force to tackle the problem.
The Coil Cradle developed by the company uses the weight of the coils to hold the barriers in place and prevent lateral movement.
The cradles are now in use across the company’s site on Birds Royd Lane in Brighouse. Since their installation, there have been no accidents and no reported near misses involving movement of coils.
Managing director Neil Stewardson said: “The coils used at Siddall & Hilton Products weigh around one tonne.
“As we process some 20,000 tonnes of wire every year, safe handling and secure storage is key to protecting the health and safety of our employees.
“This initiative has proved a great success, and the Live Wire Health & Safety Award has recognised this amongst our peers.”
