Northgate Vehicle Hire of Darlington has had its approach to the prevention of accidents and ill health recognised in the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2012, for the fourth consecutive year.

The Gold award was presented at a ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. It recognises commitment to accident and ill health prevention and is open to businesses and organisations of all types and sizes from across the UK and overseas.

The scheme does not just look at accident records, but also entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, including important practices such as strong leadership and workforce involvement.

David Rawlins, awards manager at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), a safety charity with a 95-year history, said: “The RoSPA Awards programme provides well-deserved recognition for the winners and spurs on other organisations to raise their standards of accident and ill health prevention.

“We congratulate Northgate Vehicle Hire on its success and encourage it, and all our other winners, to remain committed to safety and health, an approach that is well recognised to be good for workers and the bottom line.”

Colin Gilstin, group health, safety and environment manager at Northgate, added: “It’s an absolute honour to have our attitude towards health and safety recognised at the RoSPA awards, for the fourth year in a row.”

The majority of RoSPA’s awards are non-competitive, marking achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Organisations maintaining high standards can win gold medals, president’s awards and orders of distinction.

Competitive awards are presented in more than 20 sectors, and specialist awards recognise excellence in specific areas, such as the management of occupational road risk.