THE Olympics and Paralympics may have come to a close but a housing association has demonstrated it has the golden touch when it comes to health and safety.

Broadacres has achieved its 17th consecutive gold medal in the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) 2016 Health and Safety Awards.

It remains the only housing association – and one of only 70 companies in the entire UK - to achieve the Order of Distinction, which is given to organisations that achieve a minimum of 15 consecutive gold awards.

The Broadacres’ award recognises the health and safety management systems that have been put into place to look after the health and wellbeing of staff, customers and anyone else who comes into contact with the organisation.

The RoSPA Awards, which have been running for 60 years, recognise businesses and organisations which have shown commitment to accident and ill-health prevention.

John Blake, Broadacres’ health and safety officer, explained: “In order to achieve this award we have to provide evidence of further improvement year on year.

“Just one example this year is the introduction of annual health surveillance checks for our operatives, which covers everything from testing their lung function through to testing them for Hand Arm Vibration Syndrome.”