A power company which supplies Dorset has been recognised for demonstrating its services are accessible to all.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Electricity Networks (SSEN) has got the thumbs up after meeting the requirements set by the British Standards Institution (BSI).

The requirement, BS 18477, specifies that procedures need to be in place to ensure that inclusive services are available to all and accessible to all consumers equally, regardless of their personal circumstances.

SSEN is one of the first companies to be assessed by BSI since the assessment has been formally recognised as a verification scheme, having met the requirements of the BSI standard for the past two years.

SSEN social obligation manager Julie Walker said: “It’s such a proud achievement for SSEN to be one of the first organisations to go through BSI’s new verification assessment process and to be presented with this certificate in recognition of all the hard work that our staff in customer services and across our regions in the north of Scotland and central southern England.

“It is important that each year we show how SSEN is using innovation and ongoing communications to improve how we look after our customers. This verification is a fantastic achievement and is down to the hard work of our employees who go the extra mile to support and care for our customers; hard work that will continue year on year so we can provide and improve on the services that show our customers we care about their needs.”

Natasha Bambridge, UK product certification director at BSI, said: “By implementing BS 18477, service providers can demonstrate that they have the relevant policies and procedures, training plans and fair and accessible practices in place when dealing with consumers.

“We’re delighted to have supported SSEN with achieving this verification.”

SSEN has recently established an inclusive service panel, a body of five people who hold a vast range of work-life experiences including mental health, inclusivity, resilience, physical disability, equality, occupational health, religious diversity, BME and healthcare specific recruitment and the LGBT community.

Julie Walker said: “The panels expertise, experiences, backgrounds and knowledge will enable SSEN to align our business to meet all of our customers’ needs so we can keep developing our commitment to delivering a truly inclusive culture and ensure we’re doing the right thing for our customers.”

In the last few years, SSEN has made significant progress in developing its services to become more customer focussed and inclusive, including evolving its priority services register (PSR), welfare services and enhancing marketing and communication channels to enable customer feedback.