Bradfords flies high for safety standards

Builders merchant Bradfords Building Supplies kick-started its 250th year with a visit to the Royal Navy’s Flight Safety Centre at RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset to get an insight into the aviation industry’s safety culture.

Bradfords aims to put safety at the forefront through 2020. Hosted on the day by the centre’s Commanding Officer, Commander Ant Laycock, and with stories and aircraft parts from Naval aviation accidents on display, the Bradfords’ team were provided with valuable insight capturing the essence and concepts that underpin the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm’s relentless development and maintenance of its safety culture.

Giles Bradford, communications and engagement manager at Bradfords and a former Naval pilot, said: “It’s a fact that the majority of incidents occur due to human factors rather than technical or environmental, and the same can be said in our industry. The aviation industry is well known as the front-runner in the management of safety, and to have the chance to learn from an organisation that is held in the highest regard in that industry is a real privilege.

“The Bradfords team came away that day with some great lessons that we can now apply to our own safety culture, and we’ll be looking to instigate these through our 250th anniversary. As a business that is significantly older than the Fleet Air Arm, it’s good to know that there’s plenty more we can do to raise the safety bar in the industry through an innovative approach.”

Geoff Ferneyhough, Bradfords’ Health & Safety Manager and himself former member of the Fleet Air Arm, added: “Safety has to be everyone’s responsibility. It’s that individual ownership that we know will drive a safety culture that not only ensures we are as safe as we can be, but also directly impacts our ability to serve our customers and suppliers, and the bottom line. I’m really looking forward to seeing the effect that taking the lessons from today into the business has.”