Potato supplier Greenvale is celebrating after earning a full set of health and safety certificates at all five of its main processing, manufacturing and storage sites in the UK. The Burrelton operation in Perth was the final site to complete the set, receiving two awards, an ISO 14001 for its environmental management system and the Occupational Health & Safety Management (BS OHSAS) 18001 certificate.
To achieve the ISO 14001 accreditation Greenvale, which breeds, grows, packs markets and distributes potatoes, conducted an initial review of all environmental factors present at Burrelton, set targets for improvement and ensured there was an effective management system in place. The company also had to set a benchmark so that environmental sustainability was central to grading, storing and growing at Burrelton with water and energy use reduced wherever possible.
The Occupational Health & Safety Management 18001 certificate was developed by the British Standards Institute to help organisations meet and exceed their legal health and safety obligations within the work environment, protecting employees, customers and the general public who may visit the site.
Joanne Baptie, group health, safety and environmental manager at Greenvale said: “Meeting the criteria for OHSAS 18001 has involved the development of plans for hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control, a training programme for management and factory staff and a definitive measurement and monitoring system. It is essential that all members of staff know their responsibilities, from a new team member grading potatoes to the experienced employee manning the machinery.”
The other Greenvale sites to win health and safety certificates are Floods Ferry in Cambridgeshire, Swancote Foods and Tern Hill in Shropshire and Duns in Berwickshire. The Duns site also recently retained its 18001 health and safety certificate. Baptie said: “As a business we are dedicated to achieving and succeeding our targets for both health and safety standards and environmental sustainability. We employ over 750 people across the business and they will all be positively affected by these accreditations.”
Greenvale handles 600,000 tonnes of potatoes a year supplying major retailers and processors. It grows 70,000t of its own potatoes.
