Principle Cleaning Services’ Vertical Division has achieved a Gold RoSPA Health and Safety Award. The accolade recognises our continued commitment to maintaining the highest standards of health, safety and wellbeing across our operations.
For Principle, this is much more than an award. It’s a reflection on our deeply embedded safety-first culture, where the wellbeing of our people, clients and building users is central to the way we operate.
Putting safety first in high-risk environments
The division was founded in 2013 with just four team members. Now one of the UK’s largest of its kind, our vertical team is more than 150 strong and includes 40 mobile operatives – many of whom are IRATA-trained abseilers – plus 80 site-based operatives and management.
Our teams work across some of London’s tallest towers and most iconic buildings, delivering specialist services in environments where our safety-first culture is embedded in every aspect of our operation, from safety compliance to behaviours. High-risk activities, including rope access, cradle operations and working at height, are part of our everyday operations.
In such an environment, maintaining the highest standards of health and safety requires much more than simply meeting legal and regulatory requirements. It requires a proactive approach, strong leadership and a culture in which everyone understands their role in keeping themselves and others safe. That commitment starts at the top. Our senior management team carries out regular site visits, engaging directly with operatives, reinforcing safe working practices and listening to the challenges our teams on the ground face.
Principle’s Safety & Compliance Department is staffed by qualified professionals with extensive industry knowledge, ensuring our policies, procedures and controls are robust, practical and effective. We recognise that technical training is only one part of creating a safe working environment. Mandatory Behavioural Safety Workshops help managers and operatives understand the human factors that can influence safe decision-making, including safety fatigue.
A proactive approach to health and safety
Our commitment to safety goes beyond annual audits and compliance checks. We carry out observational safety audits while work is undertaken, enabling us to identify potential risks, reinforce good practice and address issues in real time.
Risk assessments are developed with operational teams and supervisors. By involving those closest to the work, we can ensure that controls are site-specific, practical and clearly understood by everyone involved. This approach helps us continually assess how our safety processes work in practice and identify opportunities for improvement.
Supporting physical and mental wellbeing
For us, workplace safety extends beyond physical health. We recognise that working in high-risk environments can be demanding, and our Directors champion Principle’s Mental Health Strategy. Confidential, peer-led support from our Mental Health Buddies provides colleagues with a safe space to talk and access support when they need it.
What the Gold RoSPA Award means for our clients
The Gold RoSPA Health and Safety Award provides important recognition of the standards embedded within our Vertical Division and gives our clients further confidence in the way we operate.
Our approach is further supported by recognised standards and industry memberships, including ISO 45001, ISO 9001 and IRATA membership. For our clients, this means confidence that safety remains a fundamental consideration throughout the delivery of our specialist cleaning services.
Recognising our Vertical Division team
This achievement would not have been possible without the commitment of everyone across our Vertical Division. Thank you all for your professionalism, vigilance and dedication to maintaining high standards every day. Your commitment to safe working practices and to looking out for one another is what makes our safety-first culture possible.
David Saville – Managing Director, Vertical and Specialist Cleaning, Principle Cleaning Services, commented: “Achieving the Gold RoSPA Health and Safety Award is a fantastic recognition of the commitment to safety demonstrated by everyone across our Vertical Division. In an environment where our teams carry out complex and high-risk work every day, safety can never be an afterthought. It has to be embedded in everything we do – from strong leadership and robust risk assessments to behavioural safety and supporting the wellbeing of our people.
I’m incredibly proud of the way our teams continue to challenge themselves, look out for one another and maintain the highest standards.”
As we look to the future, we remain committed to continually strengthening our approach to health and safety, supporting our people and raising the bar even further.