Oxford Safety Components Ltd

The company was founded in 2000 by two brothers, John and David Black, who had been
 site carpenters. They had gained first-hand experience of safety concerns when working
 to construct new buildings. The brothers invented the concept of a simple trellis to form an 
expandable lightweight safety and working platform, tested many prototypes on real sites, 
patented their designs and started sales and production.

First product: Roof Truss Fall Prevention
The first application of this trellis was in the fitting of roof trusses. Safety Trellis System mats
 designed to meet this need are now deployed on many housing developments. Leading users are 
Taylor Woodrow and David Wilson Homes. The mats were exhibited on the Health & Safety
 Executive HSE stand at the Site Equipment Show in 2001. They were awarded the Beaumont
 Trophy by the Construction Health and Safety Group in 2001, and gained a European 'Success Is No Accident' award in 2002.

Continuous Technical Innovation and Development

Next: Fall Prevention Products:
To meet customers' needs, the next product designed was to safeguard stairways and voids. This
 is the Stairwell Platform System, a telescopic frame to fit into a stairwell to support a trellis mat. It was first shown at the Safety and Health Expo at the NEC in Spring of 2003 and gained the British
 Safety Industry Federation ‘Product Innovation Award’. Since then, over 5,000 units have been 
deployed on sites. A leading user is the George Wimpey group of companies.

Subsequent designs are mats for use over hatchways, and in roof spaces and attics. The 240 Mat 
is fully insulated to protect operatives from accidental contact with faulty electrics in the floor of the roof space (possibly hidden in thermal insulation layers), as well as potential falls through 
ceilings. The Voidy mat is for fitting over an open hatchway; while protecting from falls down the 
hatch, it also allows easy access and visibility into the roof space or void.

Latest products:

The Bricklayer Mat & the Hi-Guard Barrier
For Gable End work a specially sized version of the safety trellis mat, the B Mat, has been
 developed to protect bricklayers (and similar trades) from falling into the building when working high on a gable end.

The OSC Hi-Guard barrier provides rapid temporary protection to prevent any fall over an 
unprotected edge. This is particularly suitable when building up brickwork working from scaffolding.

Current business initiatives:
Following the success in the UK market, representatives and agencies have been appointed in the 
Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands and Belgium. We now also provide fire safety equipment; 
many items are specifically selected for building site work. Meanwhile, the buildings at our head-quarters in Bicester have been extended.

Oxford Safety Components Ltd confidently looks forward to developing further designs and
 products that meet our mission of ‘innovation to make work a safer place’.