Major awards for IOSH

Bev won the award after overseeing the transformation of IOSH to enable it to deliver its five-year strategy, WORK 2022, to shape the future of the occupational safety and health profession.

Part of this transformation included the ‘Attraction and Induction’ project to improve IOSH’s offer as an employer – and this was named ‘Change Project of the Year’ at the awards ceremony, held at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London, on Wednesday 2 October.

Bev joined IOSH in October 2016 and has led the organisation through a period of change. This has included the development and implementation of its new strategy, which was launched in April 2017 to enhance the occupational safety and health profession, collaborate with like-minded organisations and influence and strengthen its impact globally.

She appointed a new senior leadership team and began a five-year ‘Transforming Together Programme’ that has made IOSH more modern, flexible and agile in order to deliver the new strategy. This has focused on three key areas – IOSH’s people, its ways of working and its operating model.

The result has been an improvement in how IOSH recruits, retains and develops employees, better systems and processes, and significant financial improvements.

All of this has helped the Institution continue to strive toward its vision of a safe and healthy world of work.

Award judges said Bev was “recruited into a challenging position and has rapidly instigated a programme that has returned the organisation to stability, whilst introducing new policies and a culture that has created new opportunities”.

After picking up her award, Bev said, “I am delighted that IOSH has been recognised by these prestigious awards. It is testament to the collective work that has been done over the past three years.

“We are halfway through delivery of our WORK 2022 strategy, through which we are shaping the future of occupational safety and health to ensure millions of working people worldwide are protected.

“Key to this has been transforming IOSH as an organisation, to make us more business-like and customer focused, so we continue to meet the needs of our members.

“As chief executive, I am proud to lead an amazing team who are delivering this transformation and would like to thank all the staff at IOSH for their hard work. I am also grateful for the support of our members, in particular the Presidential team and our Council, and our Board of Trustees.”

Bev is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and has a wealth of experience in HR and people development. Before joining IOSH, she held posts at Ofwat, as Senior Director – Business Improvement, and Coventry City Council, as Corporate Director of Customer and Workforce Services, Head of Human Resources and Acting CEO.

She was appointed by IOSH’s Board of Trustees. Its Chair, Dr Bill Gunnyeon, said, “These awards demonstrate how IOSH has grown and developed over the past three years. A wide-ranging transformation programme has been ongoing to ensure the successful delivery of our WORK 2022 strategy and to better support the needs of our global membership.

“That we have been able to do all this in such a relatively short timescale is the result of the strong leadership provided by our Chief Executive, Bev Messinger, together with the hard work and commitment of our great team of people who work for IOSH and our many member volunteers across the world.”

IOSH’s ‘Attraction and Induction’ programme aimed to improve its proposition to employees to make it an employer of choice, focusing on the recruitment, onboarding and induction of its people.

Jasbir Bilen, Head of People at IOSH, said:

“We were delighted to be shortlisted for these awards, alongside many big names in the charity sector, so to win is simply fantastic.

“As an organisation, we are being transformed to ensure we deliver our WORK 2022 strategy. Everyone at IOSH is playing a role in that, so we can all be proud of this achievement and recognition.

“The work of our Chief Executive has made the organisation stronger, more efficient and financially stable, and it has enhanced IOSH’s global profile, developing excellent collaborative relationships – all achieved in just over two years.”

This year’s awards were the 20th held by Charity Times. They are held to celebrate best practice in the UK charity and not-for-profit sector.