Award winning projects
UK award winning projects
Care and custody
HMP Wolds
- 4-stars Health and Safety at Work Award at HM Prison Wolds.
- Chartermark at HM Prison Wolds.
HMP Altcourse
In 2004, HM Prison Altcourse won the coveted Business Excellence Award for the North West England in the category of public sector business with over 250 employees. These Awards provide public recognition to organisations which demonstrate a high level of commitment to the concepts of Excellence.
Butler Trust Certificate Award
Peter Lythgoe who is GSL head of Health and Safety and Health and Safety Co-ordinators Bob Stevenson and Paul Baker have been given a Butler Trust Certificate Award for their work in radically improving conditions for court users and prisoners at the 209 courts used by the company. They received their award at Buckingham Palace from the Butler Trust’s patron, the Princess Royal, with whom they were later able to talk for several minutes.
Said Bob Stevenson: “We spoke about health and safety and the certificate which we had won. The Princess was superb and very well informed.”
The Butler Trust is a charity that recognises commitment, hard work and innovation by people working in UK prisons through its annual award scheme. In a citation, the Awards judges commented: “The professionalism and tenacity of Group 4’s health and safety team has facilitated considerable improvements in the safety and health of prisoners, staff and visitors and in the understanding and awareness of all company staff and court users across 209 company-operated sites.”
GSL’s nomination of the trio for the award describes how they have been working closely with court managements and other agencies to raise understanding of health, safety, welfare, human rights, disability and discrimination among all court users and company staff. The result has been many practical improvements to court facilities including:
- The removal of most ligature points in cells to prevent self-harm by prisoners.
- The installation of secure docks on many sites, preventing injury to prisoners, company staff and court users.
- Substantial improvements to welfare facilities for staff and visitors.
- Better access to and from courts, leading to less contact with the public with, in turn, reduced violence to staff, prisoners and the community at large.
- Improvements to cell heating, lighting and ventilation, creating a more comfortable environment for cell users.
The team’s work has led to major refurbishments being undertaken at many courts where we operate. In some cases, courts have been closed while problems identified by the team have been put right.
To reduce the risk of injury to prisoners when handcuffs are applied – something which GSL officers do about two million times a year – handcuff wrist protectors have been issued to all operational staff.
The team have also introduced a staff training and development programme involving hundreds of courses, workshops and briefings in areas such as risk assessment, manual handling, fire safety and human rights. And they have introduced vehicle safety inspections, accident investigations and a safety policy document.
Tinsley House immigration removal centre
Tinsley House immigration removal centre at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, has won a medal. The National Security Inspectorate (NSI) has awarded the Centre its prestigious Guarding Gold Medal for its quality standards. NSI is one of the UK’s leading inspectorates for Britain’s security industry. NSI-approved companies comply with all appropriate British and European standards and meet the requirements of police and insurers.
Tinsley House, which has about 100 staff, is responsible for the detention and care of illegal immigrants, deportees and some asylum seekers.
Said acting centre manager Malcolm Henderson: “We are committed to providing the best service and, in recognition of this, we are proud to have received the Guarding Gold Medal.”
Healthcare
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre
Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre was named the best health project under £45m by the Private Finance Initiative industry. The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre’s new building in Oxford, which will replace its existing premises, so impressed the judges in a PFI industry competition that they voted it the best PFI healthcare initiative under £45 million. Projects were judged in various categories by industry experts on a range of criteria including design, quality and value for money.
In a closely-fought category the Nuffield project impressed the judges with the flexibility of its design which also focused on quality and energy efficiency while showing a sensitivity to the environment through all stages from construction to use.
Nuffield chief executive Ed Macalister-Smith said: “We are pleased that what we believe to be a super new hospital has been recognised as such by experts in a range of fields from construction, architecture, design, finance and partnership organisations. We think our patients and staff will benefit from this integrated design and it will provide us with a top-notch facility for many years to come.”
The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre is renowned worldwide for treating all varieties of disease and damage to bones and muscles. The rebuilding project will create a state-of-the-art facility specifically designed to provide routine and specialist orthopaedic and rheumatology care to the people of Oxfordshire and beyond. This development represents a significant additional investment in the NHS as orthopaedic waiting times are among some of the most challenging targets set by the Service.
East London and the City LIFT Project
The Centre Manor Park in Church Road (East London LIFT) won the Best Designed Primary Care Facility Award. The Newham Surgery beat a shortlist of four in its category to take the Best Designed Primary Care Facility award in the Building Better Healthcare Awards to NHS organisations. The award was presented in front of over 500 NHS directors, managers, clinical and nursing professionals, architects, contractors and healthcare suppliers. The Building Better Healthcare Awards is hosted by NHS Estates and recognises the very best in healthcare design and estates, and facilities management. NHS organisations throughout the UK were invited to enter their project in the various categories, which included Best Designed Hospitals and Best Designed Mental Health Project. The Newham Surgery beat Southdene Primary Care Resource Centre, The Amwell Practice and Pontardawe Primary Care Resource Centre.
Office accommodation
GCHQ
In 2002 the GCHQ New Accommodation Project won both the top Project of the Year Award, and the Best Design Project Award. The annual Public Private Finance Awards aim to promote best practice and recognise innovation and excellence within the PPP/PFI sectors. The awards are established as the most prestigious honours in the industry.
Met Office
Employees at the Met Office have lots to shout about since being awarded the PPP/PFI Award 2004 by the Contract Journal Construction Awards 2004. Rob Varley, contract manager at the Met Office and Simon Allen project design manager Costain-Skanska joint venture were presented with the prestigious accolade for the MoD Met Office Relocation Project at an award ceremony held at the Grosvenor Hotel, London in October 2004. From design to completion it took Costain-Skanska just four years to build the new Met Office in Exeter.
To be eligible to enter the awards the design had to be flexible enough to accommodate the Met Office’s changing requirements as well as enable it to promote an environmentally efficient image. The panel of judges described the building as being ‘innovative with opportunities for organisational change and a source of pride. The Met Office project beat Hereford County Hospital, Hexham General Hospital and Cheshire Police Headquarters.
Managed Services
Charter Mark is the government’s own quality recognition awarded to public service organisations that demonstrate exceptional standards in customer service. So it says much that it gave the contract to administer the applications and assessment process for the award to the part of GSL known as Managed Services.
Australia award winning projects
Employees at Port Phillip Prison in Melbourne have been celebrating ever since they won a prestigious in the Government of Victoria 2004 Community Partnership Awards.
The prison has also won the prestigious Human Rights Radio Award following the judge’s comment that it was “simply a great programme and a standout winner.” Port Phillip is one of two prisons operated by GSL in Australia.