For pharmaceutical wholesaler AAH, building a stronger safety culture began with a close look at how the business understood and managed risk. Its entry for The SHE Show Inspiring Change Awards describes a programme that has brought clearer responsibilities, practical tools and greater employee involvement to a network employing around 2,400 people.

Following its separation from McKesson in 2022, AAH carried out a gap analysis involving its Board, operational teams and functions including transport, facilities, procurement and HR. The review found that arrangements designed to protect medicinal-product quality did not always capture the information needed to protect people carrying out the work. Injury reporting, for example, lacked a dedicated lost-time field, while information was spread across different systems and spreadsheets.

AAH developed a five-year strategy built around firm foundations, risk focus, and leadership, engagement and empowerment. Annual plans translated that direction into changes that sites could put into practice. A dedicated health and safety management system and an EcoOnline incident platform provided a clearer structure for identifying hazards, recording injuries and following up improvements.

The programme also addressed how people learned. A Safety School focused on 12 operational hazards, supported by a Safety and Sustainability SharePoint resource. Health and safety partners worked with sites as coaches, helping teams apply the approach to their own working environments. A Site Risk Management Toolkit brought responsibilities, local risks, training and improvement plans together, with monthly review and sign-off by site leadership.

Regular conversations helped connect these arrangements to operational decisions. Monday morning network reviews shared incidents, performance and recognition, while health and safety became part of wider Board and commercial discussions. Risk Behaviour Discussions encouraged people to explore how work was happening and where conditions could be improved. Investigations looked beyond individual actions to equipment, processes and the circumstances surrounding an event.

Employee involvement produced practical resources as well as feedback. In Birmingham, a transport supervisor and ten drivers helped create a “What Good Looks Like” vehicle safety-check video for driver training. At Tamworth, improvements covered warehouse layout, forklift segregation and fire precautions. Teams could trial changes, discuss their experience and share what they had learned with colleagues elsewhere in the network.

The supporting evidence also describes a trial that did not proceed as originally intended. A retrofit AI pedestrian-detection system for forklifts was tested at Tamworth, but driver feedback and evaluation identified shortcomings in its functionality. AAH stopped the trial and sought an alternative. That decision illustrates the importance of checking whether a proposed control works in practice, even after time and money have been invested.

AAH reports substantial improvements between its FY23 and FY26 results. Its lost-time injury frequency rate fell by 54%, alongside 27 fewer lost-time injuries. The total injury frequency rate fell by 64%, with 159 fewer personal injuries, while its days-lost ratio reduced by 82%. These are the organisation’s reported comparisons for that period.

The balance of reporting changed too. AAH’s hazard-to-accident ratio increased from 25:1 to 138:1, bringing more information about potential problems into view. That measure sits alongside the injury results: it helps show how reporting activity has developed, rather than proving on its own that every hazard has been resolved.

The experience offers a practical lesson for organisations reviewing their own arrangements. Systems need to reflect the risks people face, and managers need routines that turn the information collected into decisions. AAH’s programme connects those foundations with workforce knowledge, giving employees a role in testing improvements and helping leaders understand where further action is needed.

AAH Pharmaceuticals entered The SHE Show Inspiring Change Awards 2026. This article draws on its application and supporting evidence; performance figures are reported by the organisation.