National Express West Midlands is celebrating continued recognition for its relentless commitment to safety after receiving its seventh consecutive Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit from the British Safety Council. 

Each year, organisations from across the world put themselves forward for a demanding, independent health and safety audit by an external assessor. The extensive evaluation goes beyond legal minimum requirements and judges companies against best practice in safety culture, leadership, wellbeing and continuous improvement. 

Following this year’s intensive audit, National Express West Midlands has been given a score of 98.61%, which is an increase on its 97.86% score in 2021.

Mark Heffernan, National Express UK Operations and Safety Director, said: "We are incredibly proud to have been given another five-star audit from the British Safety Council - our seventh five-star audit in a row.

“The safety of our customers, employees and the general public remains our number one priority and this external recognition once again reflects all the hard work and dedication from our teams right across our business.”

Mike Robinson, CEO British Safety Council, said: “The award of a five-star grading following our occupational best practice Health and Safety Audit is an outstanding achievement.

“It is reflective of a proactive organisation which is committed to continual improvement in its health and safety arrangements and managing risks to workers’ health, safety and wellbeing.

“National Express West Midlands should be very proud of this achievement.“

To achieve the five-star grading, a company must score 92% and above for its performance against a number of key safety indicators in occupational health and safety management systems. The British Safety Council also probes each organisations’ approach to employee wellbeing and resource planning for change - all of which are considered important best practice factors.

National Express West Midlands was also granted continued ISO45001:2018 certification - an international standard that specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system.