Seven Steps to Safety Success – RoSPA Workplace Safety Blog

If you’ve never registered for the RoSPA Health and Safety Awards, then it really is about time you changed that! The RoSPA Awards are a fantastic way to recognise your business’s safety success, give your team a morale boost and win new clients.

If you have registered before then you’ll know the importance of getting everything right when you register and ensure you get your entry spot on.

Whichever camp you’re in, you’ll find plenty of great tips and advice for completing your RoSPA Awards registration as we present our Seven Steps to Safety Success…

1.Register now!

The sooner you register, the sooner you can access the online entry system and start work on your submission – maximising your preparation time.

2.Review the guidance documents

Before you start working on your entry however, make sure you fully understand what is required of your submission.  This information is found in the guidance documents when you log in to the online entry system.  A comprehensive help guide can also be found – demonstrating how to use the entry system itself.

3.Save the rush – plan in time to complete

A RoSPA Awards entry will take time to complete – don’t under estimate this. The evidence and detail asked for in the submission is something that sets RoSPA Winners apart and makes our Awards the most thorough and respected. Why not avoid a last minute rush and plan ahead?  Answer a couple of questions per week between now and the early February submission deadline – and you’ll still have time to check and review before you need to submit.

4.Evidence. Evidence. Evidence

Supporting evidence is paramount to maximising your Awards grade.  It’s our primary proof that the safety management system you describe is being successfully implemented.  Even well written answers will fall short if they are not well supported by evidence documents.  There is a document limit for each section, and we recommend that you utilise it as fully as possible.

5.Collect your evidence documents and ideas ahead of time

You can start work on your entry as soon as you’ve registered and received your login details. We also recommend keeping a file open and collecting useful evidence documents as you come across them in your day to day routine.  Having good evidence to hand, when you begin work on your entry, can save time – something your work schedule will thank you for.

6.Answer the questions asked

This may sound an obvious one but it can catch people out.  The RoSPA Awards question set is designed to cover all of the important aspects of your safety management system.  However, marks may be lost if you don’t answer the questions asked or present relevant information in the wrong section.  We therefore recommend thoroughly reading over all the questions before you start answering.  We have made some changes to some of the questions this year, so this is especially important.

7.Use the space available to tell your story

Even if you’ve been successful in the awards before, you should presume that the assessor knows nothing about your organisation.  We have an emphasis on quality over quantity, but Gold winners do tend to make good use of the word and document limits available for answers to questions. Use the space wisely to help paint a clear picture of your organisation, and what drives its health and safety management.  Be sure that you don’t forget to give a sense of your organisation’s passion for health and safety, and the culture that stems from it.

Follow these instructions and you will maximise your chances of achieving a grade that accurately represents and rewards your real-world health and safety management achievements.

Finally, don’t forget, putting together a RoSPA Award submission involves looking on your organisation’s safety performance and management systems during the previous year.  This is an ideal reflective activity that may count towards your Continuous Professional Development portfolio – so don’t forget to mention it to help further your own career development too.

If you want to know more about the RoSPA Awards and how you can enter, get in touch with us at or by ringing 0121 248 2090