Looking after our People
Looking after the health and safety of our customers and colleagues is our priority at Wickes. They rightfully expect a safe place to work and to shop and we strive to do this by maintaining a culture where safety is inherent in everything we do. Our safety culture is centred around commitment and care, and we make it our priority to ensure that everyone who works and shops with us goes home safe and well every single day.
Our approach
Our Safety Management framework sets out our approach to risk management supported by active safety leadership and the development of an embedded safety culture. Advice and support in safety and health is provided by our Stay Safe team who provide assurance on the implementation of our safety policies and procedures.
Accountability for health and safety management sits at the top of the business and is led by our Chief Executive Officer. We have a robust governance structure with oversight of safety through our Audit and Risk Committee. Our Executive Board receives a detailed update on our performance every month, with 6 monthly detailed updates provided to our PLC Board.
The Wickes Safety Standards are held within the Wickes online Safety Management System, and are detailed against each of our key risk areas. They are managed by the Stay Safe Team to ensure we are legally compliant, and consider our risks in a consistent manner. Each operational area must ensure their procedures comply with the minimum requirements of the standards.
All safety events are reported on a business wide system, and this allows us to identify and escalate more serious events to senior leaders. Through a robust investigation process, we also ensure that all serious events are taken by an Incident Review Board to identify the root cause and put in place steps to prevent recurrence.
We are part of a UK Government Primary Authority scheme for our retail and distribution operation. Together with our partner authority safety partners, West Northants Borough Council, we strive to continually improve safety compliance.
Managing risks to our people and developing a great safety culture is a fundamental part of the way we do business. We have been developing this safety approach into a broader agenda of wellbeing. We want our colleagues to thrive both at work and in their daily lives and we are working hard to create an environment that helps protect our team.
We do this by seeking to raise awareness, and inspire and motivate colleagues to take responsibility for their wellbeing and have a colleagues led Wellbeing committee who take responsibility for our wellbeing and programmes. We also work with a number of partners who help us shape our wellbeing strategy. We offer core services and support such as an Employee Assistance Programme, online and certified learning and provide support resources on physical, financial and mental health.
We also talk about our overall performance in our annual Responsible Business Reports.