Kudos Award Winners Kirsten and Omar

Celebrating Proactive Safety

At Lestercast, we believe that Health, Safety and Wellbeing are not just responsibilities, they’re shared values that run through everything we do. Creating a safe and supportive place to work is something we all contribute to, and it’s important that the people who actively make that difference are recognised.

The Kudos Award (which was introduced in December) is designed to do exactly that. It’s not just about promoting Health, Safety and Wellbeing – it’s about giving real recognition to the individuals who live it day to day. It’s a way of saying thank you and showing genuine appreciation to those who help make Lestercast a safer, happier place to work.

Each quarter, the award recognises people who go above and beyond in their role and make a positive impact on those around them. This quarter, we are really pleased to recognise Kirsten Purdy (who works in inspection) and Omar Alijate (General Operative for Goods In/Out) as our Kudos Award winners, following their outstanding contribution to Health & Safety Awareness across the business.

Both Kirsten and Omar showed exactly what the award is about. They demonstrated a proactive mindset, the confidence to speak up, and a clear commitment to looking out for not only themselves, but their colleagues too.

Their nomination came from identifying a potential safety risk linked to an existing working practice. Instead of accepting it as “just the way it’s done,” they took a step back, looked at it properly, and raised concerns about how the task was being carried out. That one action led to a wider review and further investigation into safer ways of working.

In environments like ours, where processes can become routine over time, it’s easy for certain risks to be overlooked or accepted as normal. What Kirsten and Omar did is a really good example of why that mindset needs to be challenged. Safety isn’t fixed – it changes depending on the task, the environment, and the people involved. That’s why awareness and speaking up are so important.

Omar’s contribution is particularly worth recognising as he is still relatively new to the business. It can be difficult to raise concerns when you’re still settling in, but he showed real confidence and integrity in doing so. He put doing the right thing first, which is exactly what we want to see. Kirsten’s support in identifying and escalating the concern helped make sure it was clearly understood and acted on. Together, they showed a strong example of teamwork and shared responsibility, which are key parts of a positive safety culture.

Lestercast Managing Director, Chris Batty, presented Kirsten and Omar with their Kudos awards, and personalised certificates. Each member of their team receives a £10 reward budget, that can be used for a team lunch or a larger team activity in the near future.

Well done to you both!