Silver safety award for Stahl Asia

Stahl Asia have just been presented with a 'Silver Award' in the twentieth yearly ASPA (Annual Safety Performance Award) in Singapore. The awards are made by the Ministry of Manpower for good safety performance in the previous year, in this instance in 2004. Last year, the company received a 'Certificate of Merit' so this year's performance represents a very significant improvement on an already good performance. Henri Chan, Stahl Asia's SHE manager comments: 'This improvement was mainly the result of better SHE performance compared with the previous year, which I attribute to the successful implementation of a Behavioural Based Safety Programme that enhances overall safety awareness amongst employees.' During the award presentation ceremony, the Manpower Minister, Dr Ng Eng Hen, highlighted the fact that not only are companies like Stahl Asia who are receiving ASPA awards doing the right thing, they are also making a smart decision by making workplace health and safety a priority as this is the best insurance against business disruptions and productivity loss caused by accidents, poor employee health and the need for plant rectification work. This is exactly in line with Stahl's commitment to ensuring the safety and health of its employees as well as preventing pollution of the environment in and around its manufacturing facilities. The ASPA presentation, organised by the Manpower Ministry, pays tribute to and recognises the efforts made by organisations in achieving good safety performance and also in establishing and maintaining a sound safety management system. Of the 16,695 manufacturing plants in Singapore, only 251 qualified for an award and of these, seventeen top performing companies received 'Excellence' and 'Gold' awards, 98 including Stahl Asia received the 'Silver' award and the remaining 136 companies received a 'Certificate of Merit'. This is a clear indication of the very high standard that has been achieved by Stahl Asia. The assessments for the ASPA awards cover over twenty stringent judging criteria, including elements such as top management commitment and leadership, the establishment of safe working procedures and the emergency readiness of the organisation.