AMP Rose recognised for making workplace safety a core value

Mark Eitzman, safety market development manager, Rockwell Automation says: "The awards honour organisations that are leading the way in workplace safety by implementing a strong safety culture, well-executed compliance procedures, and effective use of contemporary safeguarding and automation technology."

Equipment builder A.M.P Rose received an enterprise-level award for its company-wide focus on safety. The company, which specialises in flexible packaging and flow-wrap machinery for many industries such as confectionery, snack, and bakery, takes a proactive approach to adding contemporary safety systems onto its machines.

Lee Clayton, safety assessment analyst, A.M.P Rose says: "We've found that more clients are asking for safer machines to better protect their employees. We've always focused on making safe machines, but with this industry shift, we've been finding new ways to make machines more user-friendly to help prevent workers from bypassing safeguards."

Further supporting the industry-wide shift, a recent survey by LNS Research found that 20 per cent of end users are willing to pay a premium for increased safety performance.

To that end, the company has moved away from fixed guarding systems and now uses more flexible safety options, such as light curtains and laser scanners. This has helped its customers improve both safety and productivity, and has become a competitive advantage for A.M.P Rose.

At A.M.P Rose, safety professionals work with engineering staff throughout the safety lifecycle to complete risk assessments and design new safety systems. Open collaboration between teams has helped identify and mitigate potential misuse of safety systems, leading to continuous improvement of safety system design.

Receiving the award, presented by Steve Pethick, "Director, Components and Safety Business EMEA at "Rockwell Automation, David Mann, A.M.P. Rose Managing Director, said: "I'm delighted to accept this award on behalf of the team here. It is fantastic to be recognised for the hard work that keeps A.M.P. Rose in the global vanguard of safe industrial applications, and a glance at previous winners shows that UK industry is world class. We're very proud of the achievement and everyone involved."

Honda of Canada Mfg. also received a company division-level award for the outstanding safety programme at the company's operations in Alliston, Ontario. The automotive manufacturer has ingrained safety company-wide, and the Canadian division has worked to continually make safety a core business value.

As part of this, the plant worked to improve safety through changes to its culture, compliance processes and technology. Culturally, the plant created an Equipment Safety Committee, which includes representatives from every department.

The 2017 Manufacturing Safety Excellence Award recipients join a distinguished list of past winners, including Bevcorp, The Clorox Company, Corning Environmental Technologies, Dana Incorporated, General Motors, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, MESNAC, OCME, Paper Converting Machine Company, PepsiCo divisions of Walkers Crisps and Pepsi Flavors, and Procter & Gamble.

Follow the link to learn more about the Manufacturing Safety Excellence Awards.