Sodexo Ireland’s safety-first culture, embodied in its ‘Have a Safe Day’ programme, was instrumental in the company winning the Facilities Management Award at the 2021 Health & Safety Excellence Awards

The ‘Have A Safe Day with Sodexo’ global programme underpins the company’s ongoing mission to keep its employees and clients safe. In Ireland, the programme is overseen by a dedicated all-island Health & Safety committee led by David Fox, managing director.  The committee sets safety objectives and targets that are tracked weekly, monthly, and reviewed annually. 

Pictured: David Fox, managing director and Susan O’Connor, health and safety advisor, corporate services, Sodexo Ireland with the trophy for Health & Safety Excellence in Facilities Management won at the 2021 Health & Safety Excellence Awards.
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According to the judges, “The processes and initiatives Sodexo introduced, and the evidence of the outcomes and results indicate that management are fully committed, and the employees are engaged in the processes and initiatives.’

Several initiatives and campaigns developed under the umbrella of the ‘Have a Safe Day’ programme include the Salus App, available in 13 languages, which is used to record safety walks, safety observations and, importantly, any near misses. 

On the ground, Sodexo has developed a campaign called ‘Don’t Dismiss a Near Miss’ . Employees are actively encouraged to report any near misses and, where safe to do so, take preventative action themselves. Lessons learned are shared across the entire business to help prevent a recurrence.

On a practical level, all internal meetings in Sodexo begin with a ‘Safety Moment’ that focuses on a specific safety related topic. There are also weekly calls  whereby managers across the business can share best practice and discuss health and safety matters.  These calls are supported and attended by senior management,  including the managing director David Fox.

David Fox, managing director, Sodexo Ireland said, “Safety is in our DNA, it’s at the heart of everything we do and winning this award is a testament to the standard of safety compliance, training, technical competency and safe behaviours demonstrated by our FM teams over the past twelve months. 

“Our FM teams have worked relentlessly over the last year, often in very challenging conditions.   They have demonstrated strong resilience and support for each other. It’s an incredible professional family that has gone above and beyond to keep our people and our clients safe. We’re honoured that they have been recognised at the highest level in the industry”.

In Ireland, Sodexo employs over 3,000 people, looking after more than 250 clients in business, industry, healthcare, education and government services. It manages a range of hard and soft FM services for clients on their sites, which includes facilities and estate management, food services, infrastructure build and workplace transformation.