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Scaffold Fall Leads To Slow Death
Mark Tolley, 51, fell nearly two metres through an opening in a scaffold working as a sub-contractor on six houses in Kent. The construction firm has been...
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65th Safety Awards Hear From Paralysed Faller
The British Safety Council held its International Safety Awards in May. This was the 65th year the awards have taken place. The star speaker was a man who was paralysed after a fall.
The event was hosted by British racing driver Perry McCarthy (aka the original ‘Stig’ from BBC Top Gear). The event included various speeches but the most interesting was from Jason Anker MBE who, alongside his daughter Abbi, spoke about his accident working at height 30 years ago which left him paralysed from the waist down; how it affected the family; and how he found the motivation to recover and achieve career success.
Anker said: “My accident led to my relationship breaking down, over-dependence on drugs and alcohol and further damage to my brain from an accidental overdose. It is 30 years since I fell while working at height and I have looked at how far I have come in my life. Life is 10 per cent what happens to you and 90 per cent how you react to it. The most powerful thing to me is how our lives and especially my daughter Abbi and I, have adapted since my accident. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t wake up and think, ‘if only’.
“With the help of my business partner Tim and an amazing team of supporters, I recently completed a successful ascent of Snowdon, in a gruelling nine-and-a-half-hour trek there and back. Two days later, I went down the fastest zip wire in the World, in Wales, suspended face down travelling at over 100 miles an hour. On 9 June, my daughter Abbi and I will do a big parachute jump, skydiving 15,000 feet in tandem, all to raise money for two charities No Falls Foundation and Mental Health UK. Life sometimes throws you lemons. Make lemonade.”
Big do
The event combined both a formal presentation ceremony with a dinner and an evening of live entertainment.
This year, 774 organisations of all sizes and sectors won ISA awards. They came from as far as Africa, Asia, India, mainland Europe and the Middle East. 136 applicants achieved a distinction, 298 achieved a merit and 337 achieved a pass.
Mates in Mind
The occasion was also used by British Safety Council to announce winners of the Mates in Mind Impact Awards, which are given by its sister charity, Mates in Mind to companies seeking to improve mental health at work, especially in the construction sector.
Mike Robinson, CEO of the British Safety Council said: “As always, this event provides the opportunity to celebrate the success of all the winners but I am particularly pleased we are also celebrating the Mates in Mind Impact Awards which seek to recognise and reward the amazing work being undertaken by companies in addressing mental health, especially in the construction sector.”
Picture: Jason Anker is a motivational health & safety speaker.
Article written by Cathryn Ellis
20th June 2023