National Highways Industry Awards

The things we do make a big difference to our customers. This award celebrates the outstanding contributions, innovations and achievements that have improved our customers’ overall satisfaction with our roads. It also champions examples of where the diversity of our customer base has been considered, and the needs of all our customers have been met.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams
Individuals

Entries will highlight:

Examples of how you have positively improved the service we provide from a customer’s viewpoint, and how this has built or strengthened a mutual relationship.

Evidence of when you have effectively identified and engaged with customer groups, stakeholders, freight partners and communities to understand their needs. You will also demonstrate how you have used this intelligence to inform a solution that fits the needs of our diverse customer audiences and/or communities.

Evidence of workforce diversity, including recruiting from the whole population with representation of our entire customer base in your workforce.

A clear demonstration of how collaborative working has helped to achieve our customer satisfaction KPI, as measured by Transport Focus’s Strategic Roads User Survey.

Examples of how you have identified customer groups, stakeholders, freight partners or communities, and their specific needs and used that intelligence to communicate, relevant, timely information to help build customer relationships.

The way we manage both planned and unexpected events and incidents can have a major impact on our customers, freight partners, businesses, and surrounding communities. This category celebrates those who have demonstrated a caring, customer focused approach to well maintained and safe network with better information provision to provide better end-to-end journeys.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams
Individuals

Entries will highlight:

Evidence that the activity was planned through the eyes of our customers, freight partners, stakeholders and/or communities to improve their satisfaction with their journey experience.

Metrics showing how your contribution improved our customers’ experience. This could include social media feedback, journey time results or media coverage, but should be focused on the potential to achieve our KPI for customer satisfaction.

Evidence that customers were provided with timely, accurate information that supported journey planning and managed their expectations.

Ways in which you have shared knowledge and learning within your team or organisation to support our customers to feel in control of their journeys.

Customer service is everyone’s responsibility. A positive working environment where we all understand our contribution to customer service results in better relationships, better communication and better customer experiences. This category celebrates those who have effectively delivered employee engagement and/or behavioural change to enable a team to improve customer experience.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams
Individuals to promote a team

Entries will highlight:

Evidence of a customer focused culture, or where the business has shown increased maturity towards becoming a customer focused organisation.

Examples of how putting customers first has driven change.

Evidence of how your team have nurtured talent amongst those who have shown great customer service skills and creativity.

Ways in which you have driven the development of people, so they feel empowered to provide the best customer experience.

Evidence of training, development and career planning that shows a dedication to the importance of customer experience as a specialism within the organisation.

Everyone has a role to play in inspiring and empowering those around them to be the best that they can be. This award recognises those individuals who are committed to consistently providing excellent customer service and helping us meet our customer vision. A customer service champion has several characteristics including being a good communicator, influencer and problem solver.

Eligibility:

Organisations to promote an individual

Entries will highlight:

How this individual has been a positive influence in creating and embracing opportunities for delivering outstanding customer service.

Proven experience of how they have used creative or innovative problem solving to improve customer service or experience.

How they have used customer intelligence or feedback, and considering the Strategic Roads User Survey to create customer focused change.

Ways they have acted as a role model, by seeking to improve their own or others’ skills and abilities to improve customer service as a specialism.

How the individual has promoted teamwork to drive customer focus, working with other stakeholders to ensure that they challenge and then champion a customer focused approach.

Reaching nationwide net zero targets requires the collective action of all businesses, including the construction industry. This award recognises changes and innovations within the highway’s delivery processes through the introduction of new technology (including digital transformation) to deliver better carbon outcomes and environmental stewardship.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams

Entries will highlight:

Examples of the implementation of new technologically influenced build methods or digital processes that have led to a reduced impact on the environment, compared to traditional methods.

Evidence that using technology to reach locally sourced suppliers and materials has resulted in a greener delivery output.

Better use of off-site (prebuilding) fabrication and assembly, coupled with the implementation of technology to reduce time on site and impact on the environment.

Reaching nationwide net zero targets, starts today with small steps towards big targets. This award recognises all initiatives or projects making small to companywide behaviour changes within the highway’s delivery process to reduce environmental impact.

Eligibility:

Organisations

Teams

Entries will highlight:

Examples of the implementation of a behaviour-based initiative or project that has had a reduced impact on the environment.

Evidence that a change in behaviour has resulted in the better use of locally sourced materials, or reusing materials, that has resulted in a greener delivery output and better deployment of locally sourced suppliers.

Evidence that recruitment methods are in place to employ people from the local community, reducing the travel of workforces and the impact on the environment.

The continuous development of new processes and technology is essential to the delivery of projects and improved timelines. This award recognises the deployment of new innovations that have directly impacted on the delivery process, creating effective and efficient procedures.

 Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams
Individuals

Entries will highlight:

How design innovation has delivered measurable efficiencies to the project and could be repeated on other projects.

Where rigorous research and development mean that new processes have been put into practice, that result in both programme efficiencies and improved environmental and social outcomes.

Evidence that the implementation of new technology has resulted in a safer working environment, benefits for the whole of the UK (multi-site potential), and increased supply chain resilience and capacity.

How the adoption of locally sourced suppliers and workforce has supported lead times while driving investment in the local economy/community.

How better use of off-site (prebuild) fabrication and assembly, coupled with the implementation of technology, has reduced time on-site.

Investing in the people that work across all of our projects is one of our top priorities. This award recognises the implementation and delivery of people-focused initiatives to create an inclusive culture.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams
Individuals

Entries will highlight:

How your inclusive culture initiatives are working to better the lives of your workforce:

• evidence of initiatives to attract, recruit and retain a diverse workforce
• activities that improve diversity and inclusion across the project and/or business

Show what benefits your initiatives bring, and how it is committed to continuing to provide those benefits in the future

Evidence of a clear commitment to a long term, mutually beneficial collaboration to help others replicate your practice, leading to improved diversity and inclusion within their own teams.

Examples of community investment through an active social value plan:

• evidence of maintaining accessibility across build programmes that are sustainable and long term
• investment and collaboration with local groups, organisations or charities that bring wider benefits to the community beyond infrastructure change 

Keeping sites active and the country moving, while adapting to changing advice and restrictions, required exemplary leadership and planning. This award recognises individuals, teams and organisations who, while under immense pressure to keep essential services and goods moving up and down the country, went above and beyond to continue delivering essential projects, while ensuring a safe working environment.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams
Individuals

Entries will highlight:

Examples of how quick actions through leadership and/or effective project management directly resulted in keeping sites safe and active during the pandemic.

A measured result which demonstrates how changing work habits led to continuous delivery of essential services to the nation during the pandemic.

Evidence that the adaption of processes led to effective customer communication in a tailored way to the evolving pandemic restrictions.

The ways in which effective crisis response protocols ensured worker and customer safety during the pandemic.

Keeping our workforce safe is critical, and all our aspirations in our Home Safe and Well approach contribute to a safer working environment. This award recognises an exceptional contribution to delivering against our Home Safe and Well aspirations on a large project/scheme or operational scheme.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams

Entries will highlight:

The impact of reducing RIDDOR and lost-time incidents over the life of the project/scheme.

How you have introduced leading measures to assess performance of the project/scheme.

Action taken to reduce safety issues such as service strikes, vehicle incursions, suicides on our roads, and other areas of safety that affect your workforce and our customers.

Innovative approaches to health, safety and wellbeing which show benefits that are routinely achievable.

Engagement with stakeholders and communicate across the industry to share best practice and innovation.

Keeping our workforce safe is critical, and all our aspirations in our Home Safe and Well approach contribute to a safer working environment. This award recognises an exceptional contribution to delivering against our Home Safe and Well aspirations on a large project/scheme or operational scheme.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams

Entries will highlight:

The impact of reducing RIDDOR and lost-time incidents over the life of the project/scheme.

How you have introduced leading measures to assess performance of the project/scheme.

Action taken to reduce safety issues such as service strikes, vehicle incursions, suicides on our roads, and other areas of safety that affect your workforce and our customers.

Innovative approaches to health, safety and wellbeing which show benefits that are routinely achievable.

Engagement with stakeholders and communicate across the industry to share best practice and innovation.

Keeping our customers and people safe on our roads is critical. This award recognises an exceptional contribution to delivering our road safety ambition, which is ‘that no one should be killed or injured on our strategic road network by 2040’.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams
Individuals

Entries will highlight:

How you/your initiative has gone above and beyond to achieve safer roads, safer vehicles and safer people.

Evidence of safety in design, communications and behavioural change, delivered through an innovative approach, with demonstrable impact on changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour.

Metrics to show the impact of the contribution in reducing casualties and collisions, as well as evidence of wider tangible benefits including cost and risk reduction.

Evidence of the initiative’s roll out, commitment to be rolled out or how it will be replicated across the country.

Evidence of collaboration and stakeholder engagement with road users and key partners to achieve safety outcomes.

Being a learning organisation is a central part of our Home Safe and Well plan, as we want our health, safety and wellbeing to improve continually, supported by life-long learning that is grounded in a fair and just reporting. This award recognises where excellent safety learning has taken place within a positive safety culture, empowering people with confidence to share when things do and don’t go well, so we can learn from each other’s experiences.

Eligibility:

Organisations
Teams
Individuals

Entries will highlight:

Evidence of how you have created an environment that promotes safety learning that’s designed to drive change in health, safety and wellbeing, including how you have made sure it supports diversity in learning styles.

How teams and individuals have grown their knowledge, experience and understanding, and how they have applied this learning to benefit wider groups (rather than the specific team or individual).

Examples of how you know you have a fair and just approach when it comes to reporting incidents, near misses and non-conformance, and how you feedback to those reporting to support a positive safety culture.

Show how your approach to learning incorporates collaboration with others inside and outside your organisation, and how learning has been mutually beneficial.

Evidence of how creating a learning environment with a positive safety culture has increased employee engagement around health, safety and wellbeing.

Our commitment to creating a safe working environment for our people is paramount. This award celebrates an individual or team that has exceeded expectations to improve health, safety and wellbeing through attitude, behaviour and conduct.

Eligibility:

Teams
Individuals

Entries will highlight:

Actions taken to improve the health, safety and wellbeing of those around them.

Evidence of a positive influence in health, safety and wellbeing by changing their behaviours or actions.

How the implementation and delivery of people focused initiatives ensure holistic health and wellbeing in and outside of work.

What actions have been taken to seek improvements to their capability (or that of others) to improve health, safety and wellbeing.

Evidence of how a multi stakeholder approach has helped to drive and champion safety and messages.

How you have taken steps to eliminate risks to safety at source, ensuring that risks to our people are reduced to the lowest possible level.