The RailStaff Awards 2024

John Jebson

McGinley Support Services (Infrastructure) Limited

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Nominations for Lifetime Achievement Award

Rebecca Meggs

Said the following about John Jebson:

“John has made an outstanding personal contribution to the rail industry throughout his career, he is an inspiration to those around them and it’s the first to encourage collaboration and innovations. This is what has led to him being held in high regard by the ORR, HSE and Track Safety Alliance (TSA). John’s thirst for knowledge is remarkable and is reflected in his passion in not only the safety of his workforce but the entire rail industry as a whole.

As a previous worker on track, he performed duties as a senior PICOP and Engineering Supervisor to name but a few but it quickly became apparent his future lay in railway safety. His time on track provides him with real experience to the issues faced by the workforce and a unique insight on how to improve them which is completely invaluable now he is responsible for our workforce’s safety.

As HSQE Director at McGinley Support Services, he works tirelessly, with his team, to ensure that McGinley delivers a safe, compliant workforce to the rail industry. Keeping safety as a top priority in such as large workforce is a massive challenge, but one that John is proud to undertake and dedicated to.

John and his team, who he has developed personally always maintain high standards and contribute to the success of McGinley Support Services on a daily basis from the day-to-day tasks to strategic innovations and decisions, including the creation of our industry-leading magazine SafetyINRail. It’s safe to say John’s every decision is made with his commitment to ‘Everyone Home Safe Every Day’ in mind.

John is continually looking for ways to advance our policies and procedures and communicate the safety message to his workforce and clients as a result of he has been asked to speak at prestigious safety events such as the Rail Safety Summit, Track Safety Alliance and Safety stand down days for various clients.

TSA

From 2011, John has become heavily involved in the TSA which was set up by a number of tier one contractors and Network Rail to allow stakeholders to develop and share best practice. As a founding member and the only contributing specialist recruitment business in the TSA, John plays an active part in all of the forums. He has run workshops and invited special guest speakers on hot topics such as real-life accident speakers and is a major instigator of promoting the TSA’s mission.

As the TSA has grown, so has John’s collaboration with not just clients and contractors but competitors, the message is simple from McGinley and John…. “Safety First”. John believes we can all learn from each other, withier this is in pride and success or pain and lessons learnt.

SafetyInRail

In addition to the above, John is the editor of the industry-leading SafetyINRail Magazine, which is produced by McGinley Support Services.

SafetyINRail started over 17 years ago as a single-page safety briefing for McGinley rail workers and over time with John’s guidance and determination to spread the safety message, it has expanded into a full magazine for multiple audiences across the industry.

Now registered with its own trademark and produced by McGinley Support Services marketing and safety teams, SafetyINRail is a well-written and important free magazine with honestly and originality being the bases of the messages and materials produced.

SafetyINRail allows McGinley to talk to its workforce regarding a wide range of topics including the latest safety news, industry hot topics, accident and incident statistics, safety alerts, useful guides and details of projects, incidents, health awareness and key contacts at McGinley Support Services. There's also a regular 'You said, we did' section, which details the suggestions made regarding safety and the action taken by us. These actions allow us to effectively manage the profile and reputation of McGinley and as an employer and stakeholder in the rail industry.

The continuous improvement of the SafetyINRail has meant the mailing list has increased with clients and competitors requesting copies on a daily basis, SafetyINRail is increasingly being read across the industry in the UK & beyond and with a new partnership with RailStaff the leading rail publication in the UK readership is now at circa 68,000.

RIDDOR free

John’s passion for change is infectious and he is a leader within McGinley, constantly ensuring, developing and promoting safety within the industry. A well-known campaigner for rail safety, John’s aim is for McGinley Support Services to be RIDDOR free each year. His tireless efforts though the methods mentioned above as well as his highly visible presence and work on the McGinley policies and procedures review means that our workforce is always kept up to date on all current safety regulations. Consequently, this continuous effort pays off as he came very close to achieving his goal this year, improving on the previous 12 months RIDDOR period.

John has been the innovator and spearheads behind a number of initiatives including the development and implementation of McGinley’s fatigue management system in 2014. Tired workers cause accidents. In an industry where employees work directly on rail infrastructure and drive many miles, the consequences can be catastrophic. John is dedicated to reducing the risks involved and has come up with new initiatives to combat this serious problem. We were one of the first businesses to install our fatigue management systems into our software and John was the driving force behind this innovation that is now seen as not only best practice but standard within the industry. John has provided information and knowledge to TfL, Colas Rail and a major influencer with the Track Safety Alliance to help develop fatigue management systems.

Now John has helped the entire industry move to a greater compliance level with fatigue management systems his next step is to get the industry thinking about the individual's behaviour around fatigue management. The industry is compliant to requirements i.e. minimum rest periods, fatigue measurement, driving times etc. and we know when an individual “flags” as being fatigued, they don’t work and they must rest, but what if how an individual chooses to spend their rest periods impacts on their actual fatigue. For example; a worker has two days not working but wakes up at 07.00am looks after the children, doesn’t rest at all and starts work at 23.00 the same day, is that individual really rested or are they already fatigued before they start work. This is the focus of John’s next movement within the industry. He is already engaging stakeholders to develop the initiative and put plans in place to reduce the risks of these issues before they arise. On this initiative, John has a single goal and focus and that is to ensure a major incident doesn’t occur due to the behaviours surrounding drivers and fatigue.

In addition, John was heavily involved with McGinley’s latest innovation SAM. SAM which stands for “Safety at McGinley” is a bespoke multi-platform mobile app designed to give users a simple and speedy way to report close calls, anytime, anywhere enabling live feedback and the successful implementation of railway safety improvements. Which remain an ever important tool in improving health, safety and wellbeing of all those working in the rail industry.

Along with McGinley SECURE our online safety briefing system; it is another tool in our safety toolbox to promote safe working across the rail industry. SAM is available to all McGinley Support Services employees and workers as well as our customers and suppliers.

SAM is a truly collaborative innovation. The initial idea was formed as part of a collaboration between our internal health and safety team, safety representatives at our regular safety committee meetings such as our CAKE (Collaborative working, to reduce Accidents, gain Knowledge and Empower the workforce) worker-only discussions and our ROES (Representatives of Employees Safety) group as well as our operational delivery teams and frontline workforce.

These elements show just a few of John’s commitments to rail safety and his ability to consistently work ‘above and beyond’ for the benefit of the whole rail sector.“

Kelley Bissell

Said the following about John Jebson:

“I'd like to nominate John for the lifetime achievement award because he really does commit his time and effort to ensuring everyone's health, safety and well being. Whether it’s ensuring the compliance to or spearheading the next development of an industry standard; John is always there, for everyone in McGinley and the wider industry. He is very personable and always there for a cup of tea and a chat, he is a sounding board, mentor and innovator.

John is a self-motivated individual with a ‘can do’ attitude, from his early days as a track worker to the achievement of his recent CMIOSH qualification and his appointment on the Management Board of McGinley Support Services as HSQE Director his has maintained an objective approach to all business and safety matters, breaking new ground at every corner.

Early in his McGinley career he played a intrinsic part in publishing SafetyINRail, now in its 17th year it is be read by circa 9,000 individuals on a quarterly basis, long before collaboration was considered fashionable he was combining the knowledge and experiences of our staff, workforce, clients and competitors for the benefit of the industry, This approach to his job has led to him being held in high regard by the ORR, HSE and Track Safety Alliance (TSA). John’s thirst for knowledge is remarkable and is reflected in his passion in not only the safety of his workforce but the entire rail industry as a whole.“