London’s Canary Wharf Group has beaten all other finalists in the European Week for Safety and Health Awards to be named ‘Winner of Winners’.

The property management company was one of 26 organisations from throughout the UK to receive national awards at Cardiff City Hall recently for their campaigns to highlight workplace stress. Judges decided the Canary Wharf Group entry was the best of all and presented them with the overall trophy.

Thousands of organisations took part in the annual Week, which happens every October and is promoted in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The national winners represent the best of the 166 regional winners who were presented with awards in February. Promoted in the UK by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) the event culminates in a series of regional awards, followed by the national ceremony.
Helping to present the awards was Paralympic athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson, OBE, who said: “I am delighted to be associated with the Week and I would like to offer my congratulations to all the winners. It's so encouraging to hear about the fantastic efforts made by all the participants - whether they won awards or not. As I have found from personal experience, awards and medals are great but it's the taking part and giving it your best shot that really counts.

"The workplace - whether it's an athletic track or a shop floor - can be a hugely stressful place and anything which can reduce needless stress has to be a good thing!"
HSE is looking to develop management standards for handling stress in the workplace. It will be evaluating some of the winning entries in relation to their stress management policies which could be used in the future as examples of excellence in this field.

Graham Moon, CWG’s Fire & Life Safety Manager, collected the award on its behalf. He said,

“Canary Wharf Group’s part in the European Week for Safety & Health was the result of a significant amount of work by a small team. It demonstrates what a wide effect a dedicated team can have on a large group of people in spreading health and safety understanding.”