The UK’s largest coach operator is marking this year’s Road Safety Week with a hat trick of safety-related successes. 

National Express has once again been awarded the British Safety Council’s Sword of Honour in recognition of its excellent health and safety management standards. They are one of only 85 nationally to secure the award in 2019 and the only organisation in the transport sector to achieve the accolade for five consecutive years.

The award follows a successful five-star result from the Council’s 13-day Health & Safety Audit alongside ISO 45001 certification - an international standard that specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system.

Chris Hardy, Managing Director of National Express UK Coach, commented: “The safety of our customers, employees and the general public is our number one priority and we set ourselves high standards to work to.

“To once again be externally recognised for our efforts in this area is a testament to our commitment and the effort of every individual at National Express. We believe everyone is responsible for safety which is key to us keeping such high standards.”

Mike Robinson, Chief Executive of the British Safety Council, said: “The Sword of Honour and Globe of Honour awards are the ‘Oscars’ for our industry. They recognise and reward the organisations from all over the world that have reached the pinnacle of health and safety, or environmental management, or both, in the case of a very small number of companies.

“I feel very privileged to celebrate with them their truly tremendous achievements in the knowledge that they set the standards for the rest of the world in terms of health, safety and environmental management, and increasingly also workplace wellbeing. Importantly, they are committed to continual improvement of their already excellent record.“

The British Safety Council describes the Sword as “the pinnacle of achievement in the world of health and safety management”. Only companies that have been awarded five stars in their audit can apply for the honour.