National Express West Midlands achieves continued safety success with five star grading from British Safety Council

We're celebrating continued recognition for our relentless commitment to safety after receiving our eighth Five Star Occupational Health and Safety rating from the British Safety Council.

As a leading bus operator we're proud to have successfully held our Five Star rating since 2016, demonstrating commitment to best practice with our health and safety management systems.

The British Safety Council audit reviewed every aspect of our safety procedures, including observing operations at various sites, interviewing employees, and evaluating safety policies, processes and procedures.

Mark Heffernan, UK Chief Operating & Safety Officer for National Express said:

"Our organisation’s commitment and focus on safety is relentless, so we are incredibly proud to have once again been recognised by the British Safety Council with another five star grading - an achievement we’ve maintained in each and every audit since 2016.

“It is a credit to all of our colleagues, who are consistently taking responsible action, that we have once again achieved the very highest standard, reflecting all the hard work and dedication from teams right across our business.”

Mike Robinson, CEO British Safety Council, said:

“The award of a five star grading following our occupational best practice Health and Safety Audit is an outstanding achievement.

“It is reflective of a proactive organisation which is committed to continual improvement in its health and safety arrangements and managing risks to workers’ health, safety and wellbeing.

“National Express West Midlands should be very proud of this achievement.”

Each year, organisations from across the world put themselves forward for a demanding, independent health and safety audit by an external assessor. The extensive evaluation goes beyond legal minimum requirements and judges companies against best practice in safety culture, leadership, wellbeing and continuous improvement.

To achieve the five star grading, a company must score 92% and above for its performance against several key safety indicators in occupational health and safety management systems. This year National Express West Midlands scored 96.4%.

The British Safety Council also probes each organisations’ approach to employee wellbeing and resource planning for change - all of which are considered important best practice factors.