A shared vision of a 'whole lives' approach to safety

Company: Speedy Hire

Specialist UK equipment hire company Speedy Hire is blazing a trail in the sustainability arena. With a ‘hire rather than buy’ business model, the company is ideally placed to make a more positive impact on the environment. Four years ago, they decided to go further with a dedicated Environmental Social Governance (ESG) team, which would enable it to reach wider into the social arena and address the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit.

As Amelia Woodley, ESG Director at Speedy Hire describes it: “The world is in transition to a green economy, and the principles of hire that we use in our business are at the very core of the circular economy we need”.

The new ESG strategy further enhanced the focus on health and safety risks as part of a wider people-focused ‘social’ agenda with ample opportunities for Speedy Hire to contribute more widely to the world in which it operates. Having already received ten consecutive RoSPA Gold Awards for its safety achievements, the company could now work on the intersectionality between a wider number of social issues, for example where wellbeing and mental health issues in the construction industry might impact a person’s ability to work safely.

In 2024, Speedy Hire received its tenth RoSPA Gold Award in recognition of the company’s continuous improvement in the safety arena. It gave employees the opportunity to reflect once more on the journey they were on with safety, and the work they were doing in the wider social and environmental spheres.

Speedy Hire was able to talk about, for example, its work with numerous charities, including the Scouts, and how it was important to include younger generations in the conversations about the green skills a new focus on people and planet was going to require. Already in the top one per cent globally on sustainability, the social part of their agenda now was really coming to the fore.

In recognition of the ten consecutive RoSPA Gold Awards, Speedy Hire also received the ultimate accolade of the RoSPA Presidents Award in 2024.

As Andy Johnson, Group HSSEQ Director at Speedy Hire explains: “We were all delighted at Speedy Hire to have received the ultimate acknowledgement of our progress in safety, and by an organisation like RoSPA which has been at the forefront of accident prevention for one hundred years.”

Months later, Speedy Hire continues to see the benefits of their approach to safety being lauded by an external body like RoSPA with such a long-standing reputation for safety excellence. It allows them to show clients and investors that they consider the whole picture on safety – not just physical safety, but also wellbeing of both their employees and those in their local communities.

Ultimately, a strategic partnership has emerged between Speedy Hire and RoSPA, based on the shared vision of a ‘whole lives’ approach to safety, and a mutual desire to make their communities a better place. With the world’s focus now firmly on the role of business in reducing social inequalities as well as climate impacts, Speedy Hire is in an excellent position to lead the way.

November 2024.

“We were all delighted at Speedy Hire to have received the ultimate acknowledgement of our progress in safety, and by an organisation like RoSPA which has been at the forefront of accident prevention for one hundred years.” - Andy Johnson, Group HSSEQ Director, Speedy Hire