Hewden, the UK's leading plant hire company, has added to its impressive roster of health and safety accreditations once more by achieving certification under the SAFEcontractor scheme, operated by National Britannia.

The SAFEcontractor database is used by over 100 leading employer organisations to select contractors for building and refurbishment projects and associated services. Member companies include major property management firms, health and education organisations, utility suppliers and major companies in retailing, food manufacturing and financial services.

To achieve SAFEcontractor accreditation, Hewden's complete health and safety systems were scrutinised in depth by experts from National Britannia, one of the UK's largest independent safety, health and environmental risk management specialists, with over 450 staff in the UK.

Commenting on the accreditation, Robert Devitt, a member of the Hewden EHS&Q team, with responsibility for the company's health and safety systems said:

"Major organisations are using schemes like SAFEcontractor to help them pre-select suppliers that have proven, independently-audited health and safety systems, before they let them set foot on site, as it saves them time and reduces risk. It also helps to improve the organisation's own safety credentials with its valued customer base.

"We believe that we are at the forefront of the plant hire industry in our approach to health, safety, quality and environmental issues and we are pleased that the SAFEcontractor accreditation has confirmed that we have robust and progressive policies in place.

"This is the latest in a series of awards and accreditations that Hewden has received for health and safety and is an integral part of the value we add to our customers.

"Customers simply do not want to take the risk of hiring plant and equipment that might lead to a health or safety issue on their sites. The risk to their reputation, as well as the human and financial cost of incidents, is not something they will tolerate."