The Berry Group are one of the world’s largest packaging companies, delivering over 100,000 solutions around the globe. Acquired by Berry in 2019, the Beccles site specialise in the production and decoration of high-quality plastic bottles, jars, flexible tubes and closures for personal care, healthcare, pharmaceutical, nutritional, pet care, automotive and homecare markets. The company employs over 1000 people and has seven sites in the UK and across the world. A commitment to safety is reflected in the group company values and Berry are accredited to ISO 45001 as part of a certified Integrated Management System embracing Health & Safety Management.
SG World have worked with the Berry Group for over five years, supplying a whole range of Safety Solutions, including visitor software, permits to work and contractor signing in books. Jason Tuthill, Berry Beccles Facilities & Site Services Supervisor, was already aware that SG World had 5D Contractor in development, a contractor and permit to work software platform and was eager to see a demo of the newly launched module. 5D Contractor is the latest addition to the 5D family of cloud-based solutions, designed to help businesses manage their visitors, contractors, assets and accident reporting. Managing contractors through every stage of a project, 5D includes a contractor database to document and access important information and job history, a digital permit to work system and a booking-in process - all in one integrated package.
Jason’s role is to manage the maintenance of the Beccles site and plant – that’s an area more than 25 acres, with over 1000 employees, production lines for blow moulding, injection moulding, tube manufacture and over 150 different machines. Unsurprisingly, he would expect contractors on site every single day for tasks as diverse as filling a sweet vending machine or fixing a production line. The site is audited regularly for both insurance and British Standards accreditation purposes, with contractor management being a key focus.
Jason explained “We knew there was room for improvement in the way we were managing our permit to work issue, it was all paper based so not so easy to access the information you needed. With 5D contractor all of the supporting documentation and job history is stored in one centralised, searchable database, available on any web browser.
With so many contractors to keep track of, we also really like the flagging feature in 5D which alerts us if important documentation such as valid public liability insurance isn’t in place or is due for renewal. At the point of pass issue, the system also flags if any necessary permits have not been completed and highlights potential issues.”
5D Contractor comes with a set of standard permits to work - Hot Work, Working at Height, Electrical, Hazardous Substances and Confined Spaces. However, these are just a starting point, Berry MH already had a general working permit approved by their insurers which was simply incorporated into the platform in a digitised form.
“Since the installation we’ve had the auditors in and they were very impressed with the system.” says Jason. “We’ve been recommending it to other Berry sites, our Ellough facility have already moved to 5D and there’s a lot of interest across the board.”
