ESFM Crowned for Best Overall Safety Program & Culture

In the 2024 Safety Standout Awards, presented by EHS Daily Advisor, ESFM USA took home the prize for Best Overall Safety Program & Culture. ESFM is the self-performing facilities management division of Compass Group, the world’s largest contract facilities and food services provider.

“This award is validation of the amazing, hard work and leadership of our operation teams, as well as the environment, health and safety professionals who support them,” ESFM National Director of Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) Rusti Dyals said. “Our teams are committed to Safety First and this award reinforces that we are moving in the right direction.”

“SAFETY FIRST in everything we do” is more than a sleeve patch on ESFM’s uniforms, it represents the operational culture of leading with safety. “Ensure Workplace Safety” is also the first of ESFM’s five pillars, serving as the foundation for all programs and service delivery.

This foundation has enabled ESFM to maintain industry-leading safety performance through rapid growth over a short period of time, including onboarding more than 2,000 new associates in less than three years.

As a people-first organization, ESFM associates look out for their colleagues and clients, and are genuinely invested in their wellbeing. This ambition fuels a process of adapting, innovating and reducing risk to keep people safer and make life easier for associates and clients.

Regular forums – from Innovation Council meetings to incident review calls and conversation threads on ESFM’s communication app – foster engagement from all levels of the organization in identifying safety solutions specific to various areas of the business. Examples range from utilizing stainless steel eyewash/shower inspection tanks within regulated facilities to using drones to clean exterior windows to reduce risk related to working on lifts.

“As we continue to grow as a business, the sky is the limit,” Dyals said. “The innovative ideas to reduce risk that our people continue bringing to the table are amazing. We’ll be even better in a year, in 5 years. We don’t want to be complacent, so the more we transform, the more we reduce risk, the safer we can make our environments for our associates and the clients we’re serving.”

Watch ESFM’s acceptance interview as part of EHS Daily Advisor’s virtual awards ceremony, starting around the 25-second mark: