Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the North of England’s gas distributer, has received a gold award at the annual RoSPA awards.

The prestigious annual health and safety awards are run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and are internationally recognised as the most sought-after accolade in the health and safety industry by organisations from every sector.

The awards have become the key fixture in the health and safety calendar and offer organisations a prime opportunity to prove their ongoing commitment to raising health and safety standards.

NGN received a gold award in the non-competitive achievement category based on their occupational health and safety performance assessed against the judging criteria.

The judges, consisting of highly experienced health and safety professionals, looked at NGN’s overarching occupational health and safety management systems and records against key indicators over the last five years, including practices such as leadership, workforce involvement, key achievements and incidents.

Mark Horsley, Chief Executive Officer at Northern Gas Networks, said: “I am delighted for all NGN colleagues for achieving this prestigious award, which is independent recognition of everyone’s positive attitude to health and safety.

“We take health and safety very seriously at NGN and this award is recognition for everyone within NGN of their commitment to the subject and a great way to allow us to continually challenge and improve our performance.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s Head of Awards and Events, said: “The RoSPA Awards are the most prestigious in the world of occupational health and safety, and held in high regard around the world, as winning one demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to maintaining an excellent health and safety record.

“This is also a special year in the history of RoSPA, and we congratulate all of our winners in this, our centenary year.”

The majority of awards are non-competitive and mark achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Gold medals are presented to organisations sustaining the high standards of the gold level over consecutive years.

NGN will be receiving their gold award at a ceremony on 14 September in Glasgow.

Anyone that smells gas or suspects carbon monoxide should call the National Gas Emergency Service immediately on 0800 111 999. This line is in operation 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.