RoSPA Awards – Frequently Asked Questions
Preparing your entry 
Q When answering the Key Performance Questions, does the limit of five x A4 pages (minimum point size 10, single line spacing) apply to each of the 10 questions or in total?
Q Does it matter if we don’t answer the KPQs?
Q Does the size and type of our entry folder matter?
Q What if we cannot provide any corporate KPIs such as audit scores?
Q Why do you ask what industry sector we operate in?
Q We use Accident Frequency Rates rather than Accident Incidence Rates. Are these acceptable?
Q We’ve noticed the RIDDOR rates used in the RoSPA Awards are different from others we have seen. Why is this?
Q How do we find out our Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code?
Q Our organisation covers several different activities and therefore has several SIC Codes. How do we decide which is the most appropriate SIC Code incidence rate to quote?
Q Individual sites/parts of our organisation would like to receive their own award - what should we do?
Q Should we include contractor/sub-contractor staff in our total number of employees?
Q We do not have full accident data for our contractors / sub contractors (Entry Form section 3.4). What should we do?
Q Our entry does not have a workforce representative’s countersignature. Does this matter?
Q Our award application is actively opposed by one or more interested parties. Can we still apply?
Q Is ‘24/7’ safety a required initiative, but we do not currently do much in this area. Will this count against us?
Q Why isn’t the entry form available as an editable electronic file?
Q When answering the Key Performance Questions, does the limit of five x A4 pages (minimum point size 10, single line spacing) apply to each of the 10 questions or in total?
A The five page summary is the total permitted for your concise answers to all 10 KPQs. These answers should then be cross-referenced to relevant documents in the supporting evidence folder. We recommend keeping the KPQ answers together at the front of the folder, rather than splitting them into chapters, as this tends to require unnecessary duplication of supporting documents.
Q Does it matter if we don’t answer the KPQs?
A Yes – The KPQs are designed to probe aspects of organisations’ health and safety management systems and culture, using a consistent framework to enable entrants to provide the information required. Entries that fail to follow the specified format risk being penalised or even disqualified. Your answers to the Key Performance Questions must be clearly cross-referenced to relevant documents in the supporting evidence. The awards assessors will penalise entries consisting only of a selection of health-and-safety-related documents, even if relevant.
Q Does the size and type of our entry folder matter?
A Yes - submissions larger than the permitted maximum sizes indicated are likely to be penalised and in extreme cases may be disqualified. Entries should be sent with documents inserted securely into a sturdy A4 binder (maximum height 320mm). Please note that documents can easily be lost from entries with no binder or that fall apart in transit due to the poor condition or overfilling of the binder. If this happens we may have to refuse your entry.
Q. What if we cannot provide any corporate KPIs such as audit scores?
A This will not affect the level of award. Provision of this information is not mandatory but can help RoSPA’s adjudicators to confirm their judgements about the level of award to be made.
Q Why do you ask what industry sector we operate in?
A For the competitive Industry Sector Awards, this is to ensure that as far as possible entries are compared to organisations with the same risk profiles as themselves. For award winners in general, the industry sector is used by RoSPA when gaining publicity for winners, and also for administrative purposes when organising the presentation ceremonies.
Q We use Accident Frequency Rates rather than Accident Incidence Rates. Are these acceptable?
A No, the required RIDDOR data should be provided as Incidence Rates, calculated as shown in the Guidance Notes. This allows comparison as far as possible on a common basis. However, please note that in determining the level of award, the answers to the ten KPQs and the supporting documents provided, have a higher weighting than accident statistics data.
Q We’ve noticed the RIDDOR rates used in the RoSPA Awards are different from others we have seen. Why is this?
A Firstly, the rates may be derived from HSE data from different years. More significantly, the other data may (wrongly) have been adjusted for reporting rate variation between different work activities. HSE advises that this adjustment is appropriate for ‘top level’ industry groups but not to the constituent individual work activities, as insufficient data is collected on these for the adjustment to be statistically valid. RoSPA works closely with HSE to ensure their recommendations are followed.
Q How do we find out our Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) Code?
A Please refer to the SIC Code / Incidence RateTable. If you are having difficulty determining your SIC code(s) from this table click on the link below to see an alphabetical list of work activities. Find the description(s) that best fits your organisation - the SIC(92) Code is the two digits to the left of the decimal point in the right hand column.
SIC Code Alphabetical List
Q Our organisation covers several different activities and therefore has several SIC Codes. How do we decide which is the most appropriate SIC Code incidence rate to quote?
A The most appropriate rate to quote is that for the SIC Code/activity in which the greatest number of employees are engaged.
Q Individual sites/parts of our organisation would like to receive their own award - what should we do?
A Separate applications should be made by the respective sites. As well as documents such as the corporate health and safety policy, applications must include information relating to the individual sites, eg local risk assessments, local H&S meetings, local inspections, evidence of local monitoring activities, local audit results (if applicable) etc. Failure to provide evidence of local implementation of corporate procedures etc is likely to limit the award achieved.
Q Should we include contractor/sub-contractor staff in our total number of employees?
A No – on the entry form you should show the numbers of direct employees only, as numbers of (sub)-contractor employees can vary widely throughout the year. However, you must as far as possible summarise contractor/sub-contractor numbers in a separate note, and declare their significant RIDDOR events (fatalities and major injuries) while working for you, as these help illustrate your level of success in managing your contractors. You might consider encouraging your contractors to submit an awards entry in their own right as this will demonstrate their own commitment to health and safety.
Q We do not have full accident data for our contractors / sub contractors (Entry Form section 3.4). What should we do?
A Supply what information you do have, but this must at least include a brief description of any fatal or major injury accidents involving contractors/sub-contractors. Please note that for the competitive Industry Sector Awards, deficiencies in this data could make the difference between success and failure. In addition, please note that failure to declare contractors’/sub-contractors’ adverse events that occurred within the awards period is likely to result in an award being withdrawn, particularly if the Awards Panel’s original decision would have been different had all relevant information been disclosed.
Q Our entry does not have a workforce representative’s countersignature. Does this matter?
A Yes – Good workforce involvement is vital to successful health and safety management. In the Industry Sector Awards, an entry will normally be rejected if not endorsed by an appropriate workforce representative. Achievement award applications may still be considered, but a satisfactory explanation must be given for the missing signature.
Q Our award application is actively opposed by one or more interested parties. Can we still apply?
A RoSPA cannot act as ‘referee’ in what are sometimes complex, longstanding and ongoing disputes. We expect applicants to take all reasonable steps to resolve issues before an entry is submitted. If this isn’t possible, please seek advice from RoSPA before applying.
Q Is ‘24/7’ safety a required initiative, but we do not currently do much in this area. Will this count against us?
A No - Achievement award entries are judged on their occupational health and safety performance and will not be penalised. However, when competing for the Industry Sector Awards (and the Sir George Earle Trophy), 24/7 initiatives are one of several ‘bonus’ features that help the judges differentiate between the top performers. Additional information on these can be seen in ‘The Sir George Earle Trophy - Getting into contention’.
Q Why isn’t the entry form available as an editable electronic file?
A An editable electronic file would result in the entry form being returned to us by email, which is not permitted as it must accompany the supporting evidence folder as a hard copy.
Emailed full submissions would generally be much too large to send by email as a single message and even if possible would still normally require printing off for the assessment process, thereby losing any environmental benefit from reduced paper use. This would also be a major administrative task - particularly at the peak entry time - and incur extra resource costs for RoSPA (staff time and paper) which would need to be passed back to entrants.
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