VRS Solutions Group makes strong commitment to workplace safety

A group of leading road barrier companies has made a strong commitment to creating safer workplaces by offering specialist health and safety qualifications to every employee.

VRS Solutions Group, which consists of Hardstaff Barriers, Asset VRS, Varley & Gulliver and Hill & Smith Barriers, is inviting all employees to complete the NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety.

All four firms, which are committed to providing outstanding health, safety and wellbeing practices, are offering their combined team of over 200 staff the opportunity to complete the certificate.  

The globally-recognised qualification, which is the most popular of its kind, is being made available to all employees – from operatives to directors. 

The Midlands-based companies consolidated earlier this year to combine their strength and expertise in temporary and permanent vehicle restraint systems (VRS).

Wayne Bordoy

With health and safety at the heart of VRS Solutions Group’s work, the companies manufacture and supply a wide range of VRS products including concrete and steel barriers, bridge and pedestrian parapets, crash cushions and access gates. Every product is designed to keep people and property safe.

Holders of the NEBOSH National General Certificate are able to identify, evaluate and control a wide range of workplace hazards. It encourages a pragmatic approach to managing risk and covers the main legal requirements for health and safety in the UK.

Dave Todd, Managing Director of Services for VRS Solutions Group, said: “As the leading suppliers of vehicle restraint systems, which are designed to protect road users and road workers, safety is the highest priority for VRS Solutions Group.

“Therefore, we believe it is critical to offer this important qualification to each and every one of our employees as part of our ongoing commitment to health and safety in the widest sense.”

Two leaders within the workforce, who are themselves passionate and committed to workplace safety, were keen to be the first to engage with this initiative. Wayne Bordoy, Senior Operations Manager, and Alan Norton, Depot Manager, both employed by Hardstaff Barriers, achieved the NEBOSH National General Certificate qualification earlier this year. 

Outstanding health and safety standards are ingrained in the company’s culture and these team members had the self-discipline and motivation to complete the qualification alongside their full-time roles. This was encouraging for other team members and inspired two further cohorts to start the process.

Alan Norton

Supervisor, Tim Sharpe, and Operatives Brett Hornby and Brad Dowdall have recently passed the written examination for the NEBOSH National General Certificate and are well on their way to completing the qualification.

Alan Norton said: “I felt very proud when I achieved my NEBOSH General Certificate. Although personally it took a lot of concentration and dedication to study, as I progressed through the course the importance of passing became less significant as the real reward was the knowledge I was gaining. 

“A company that invests in its staff in this way, by giving the opportunity for all staff to do this course, as Hardstaff Barriers has, will undoubtedly improve the whole safety culture of the business.”

“We believe it is critical to offer this important qualification to each and every one of our employees as part of our ongoing commitment to health and safety in the widest sense.”
Dave Todd, Managing Director of Services for VRS Solutions Group.