While we have recently retained the highest possible rating from the Regulator for Social Housing for our standards as a business, we have also gained recognition for the support we provide to maintain the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees.
Plus Dane has been awarded the Workplace Wellbeing Charter for our efforts to support colleagues, whether working from home, office-based, or out in our neighbourhoods helping customers.
The Workplace Wellbeing Charter, devised by Health@Work, is an accreditation that demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to improving the lives of employees. The process begins with self-assessment which is then followed by site visits and action plans. A full assessment report is then completed.
We have a dedicated wellbeing advisor, have trained a number of Mental Health First Aiders across the business and offer Medicash packages to all colleagues as standard. Using tools like Facebook Workplace and our own in-house podcast has made sure as many colleagues as possible have been able to access the information they need to help with issues including stress, loneliness, menopause and mental health.
Opportunities including workplace coaching and a staff bursary help colleagues with their self-improvement goals, and showing appreciation for a job well done is encouraged through our Values in Action awards and recognition scheme.
Wellbeing advisor Julie Foden said: “Our culture of supporting colleagues to be able to be their best is really important to us at Plus Dane. The pandemic has brought many challenges, but making sure our staff can access any help or information they need, and be able to stay connected to the organisation, is something we have worked hard to maintain. We are really pleased to have been awarded the Workplace Wellbeing Charter as part of our commitment to this.”
In addition, we have also been recognised as a world-leader when it comes to being a healthy and safe place to work, having achieved a second successive Gold RoSPA Health and Safety Award.
The award, from the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, demonstrates how Plus Dane has built on improvements made in health and safety practice and culture.
Chief executive Ian Reed said: “We are very proud that we have achieved the Gold RoSPA health and safety award two years in a row, particularly given the challenges of the last year. It’s great recognition that we are amongst the best in health and safety management.
“It reflects all the hard work we have done to continually improve the organisation's health and safety performance and our journey to become a safer and healthier place in which to work.”
The RoSPA Awards scheme is the longest-running of its kind in the UK, but it receives entries from organisations across the globe, making it one of the most sought-after achievement awards for health and safety worldwide.
Julia Small, RoSPA’s achievements director, said: “RoSPA is very proud of the achievements of its entrants, and with this award we recognise the best of the best, those organisations that have gone the extra mile, raising the bar for the delivery of safety in the workplace.”
