On the front line
December 1st 2007

Balfour Beatty Rail's "See It, Sort It" campaign was specifically designed to change its staff's approach to accident prevention and safety, regardless of the individual's position within the company. A year on from the campaign's launch records show a downward trend in injury rates, explains the company

While a large proportion of companies attempt to implement personal behavioural change solely within senior and middle management, it is argued that the key area of opportunity for real change lies with front line staff.

Many organisations, especially those with high numbers of front line staff, may consider targeting such a large number of employees as impractical or too costly. As a result, companies tend to employ approaches which are unlikely to provide them with real continuous benefits.

While it is hoped that the following approach to accident prevention may benefit them, it is not the only health and safety tool used by the company. In addition to this, Balfour Beatty Rail's senior management plan and programme site visits at various intervals throughout the year to discuss safety directly with front line staff. This approach has had a very positive response from staff because they can see for themselves the commitment towards their safety and wellbeing from within the organisation.

The target of this campaign was to get individuals considering not only their personal safety, but also the safety of their colleagues and the impact an accident would have upon their families. This approach aimed to "chip away" at the macho attitude traditionally associated with developing an improved personal safety culture. Historical knowledge was used when developing this plan, an example of this was construction workers and hard hats. It was not so long ago that site staff would have to be forced to wear them, now the general thought is that it makes them attractive by looking macho. Regardless of whether or not you agree or disagree, the hard work undertaken by safety professionals at the time worked.

In this case, the objective was slightly different, this was an attempt to obtain their buy in as hazard spotters and more importantly, do something about it. Staff were actively encouraged by the campaign to be constantly looking out for potentially dangerous situations as part of their normal duties. In order to obtain the long term buy in and make a lasting difference we adopted, developed and implemented a new approach.

The approach used by BBR to make that change in front line staff's perspective is outlined below. Supported by a senior manager and an area director, each session lasted about 30 minutes and involved groups of up to 80 staff at a time.

The six step guide: Step 1 – A single list was compiled of every accident and incident which occurred in the last 12 months. This was then suspended from the ceiling, just far enough away from the audience to prevent them seeing the precise detail but clearly able to see the scale of the problem. We highlighted the different parts of the organisation with Yellow and Orange highlighters. The group was then asked to guess the total number of accidents and incidents in the last year before the actual figures were revealed.

Step 2 – At this stage, we explained in detail (with the injured person's approval) the personal impact of the accidents on a couple of their colleagues. Focussing specifically on them personally and not the impact to the company, we discussed the pain, loss of earnings and how under slightly different circumstances, how much worse the accident could have been.

Step 3 – A five-minute DVD produced by the HSE about the way they set out about reducing the number of slips and trips on a building site was then shown to demonstrate what can be achieved by everyone pulling together.

Step 4 – Returning to the accidents involving their fellow workers (from step 2), we discussed how each accident could have been prevented. In each case, the injured person's work colleagues had seen the hazard prior to the incident and had walked straight past it. At this stage, it was crucial to ensure that we weren't trying to attach blame to individuals for the accidents.

Step 5 – When step 4 has made its impact, staff were asked to not walk past potential hazards in future - if they "See It", then they should "Sort It".

Step 6 – The final stage of the exercise involved staff to "signing up" to this simple commitment of "See It, Sort It" using marker pens and a 3ft by 10ft long roll of paper, attached to the wall of the training room. (The back of a roll of wallpaper can be used here). Overall, we currently have around 450 signatures which will be displayed at a suitable location.

This idea has recently been expanded to asking people to write in whenever they have seen someone sorting out safety hazards or implementing ideas with the Senior Team reviewing all entrants and, in some cases, a reward being issued. As a result, the majority of staff are extremely positive about the campaign.

Is it working? Since implementation of this initiative in October 2006, Balfour Beatty Rail's records have shown downward trends in minor (non-lost time) and lost time injury frequency rates. A similar downward trend has also been apparent in the 3-day-plus incident rate.