AROUND THE CLOCK AROUND THE CLOCK Each issue, we put our ten questions to a health and safety professional to find


out about their varied work/life balance. This month we caught up with Phil O’Neill, Group Health and Safety Manager at The Billington Group.


5WHAT’S YOUR MOST MEMORABLE WORK MOMENT? 1


WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES? My main responsibilities include developing


health and safety standards and making sure they are embedded within the subsidiary businesses, monitoring their performance through the health and safety road maps we’ve put in place. I also provide support and advice on health and safety matters and compliance to the Senior Leadership Teams across the businesses, including the CEO and Group board.


2


HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE INDUSTRY? I’ve worked within the food and drink industry


since the age of 19. I completed an apprenticeship in painting and decorating when I left school, but soon realised that it wasn’t the career for me and started a job in the drinks industry, servicing water machines. From then, my career progressed into management roles where I developed new skills, from running a fleet of vehicles to risk management.


3


WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE THIS JOB? Prior to joining The Billington Group, I worked for


Bakkavor as their Health, Safety and Environmental Manager in the meals division. Before that, I worked as the Head of Risk Management and Sustainability for MyFresh Prepared, which is a part of the William Jackson Food Group.


4


WHAT DO YOU DO IN A TYPICAL DAY? The beginning of the week always involves


reviewing the previous week’s performance and populating the weekly reports for the Chief Executive and the senior leadership team. Shouldn’t be capitalised. Then the rest of the week can be varied, from being involved in Construction, Design and Management (CDM) projects or conducting interviews, to supporting our subsidiary businesses with their health and safety business plans. My week involves a lot of commuting between the sites as I believe it’s important to be visible, and provide support across the teams, so every day is different.


One of my proudest work moments is being a part of rolling out the health and safety brand at The Billington Group - “Safety Starts with Me” - which provides a platform to align the health and safety practices of our subsidiary businesses with the Group. There are over 2,000 staff working under The Billington Group umbrella, all of whom are instrumental to our day-to-day operations, successes and continued growth. The message is to make sure everyone knows that their health and safety, and that of our colleagues, suppliers, clients - and anyone else who may encounter our business - is a shared responsibility between us all.


6WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF YOUR JOB? I really enjoy how different every day is, it keeps


the job really interesting, but the best part is working with our subsidiary businesses and seeing a difference in their health and safety standards.


7WHAT’S THE WORST PART OF YOUR JOB? For all the good work we do across the Group,


sometimes things still go wrong. It’s never nice to find out there has been an incident, however rare. Luckily they are unusual and I’m proud to be part of a team who makes sure we learn from these mistakes, put new processes or equipment in place and prevent future incidents as a result.


8DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ANYONE STARTING OUT IN THE INDUSTRY?


If you’re interested in working in health and safety, approach your Health and Safety Manager or have a chat with your Line Manager, as you can now complete an apprenticeship as a Safety, Health and Environment Technician. A good starting point would be to become a proactive health and safety committee member, if a committee doesn’t exist, set one up.


9HOW DO YOU LIKE TO UNWIND? I like going to the gym, and when it’s a bit warmer,


I enjoy cycling. I also like watching football, Formula 1 and listening to music.


10WHAT CAREER WOULD YOU HAVE IF YOU WEREN’T DOING THIS?


A career that involved working with gadgets, I’m always an early adopter of the latest ones!


www.thebillingtongroup.com


36


www.tomorrowshs.com


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