Rebecca Wishart

Said the following about McGinley Safety Team:

“McGinley Safety Team - Innovating the Industry

The McGinley Safety Team are a true example of collaboration within the industry, as one of the founding members of the Track Safety Alliance they work tirelessly with peers for a safer railway environment, often going above and beyond to ensure that our workforce is safe at every turn. They are also is the driving force behind the new innovative mobile reporting ‘Safety at McGinley’ app.

In its current form, SAM is a bespoke multi-platform mobile reporting app designed to give users a ‘one-stop’ safety experience and knowledge base. Allowing them to report close calls, receive and give safety briefings anytime, anywhere. SAM retains a library of briefings issued so all operatives can refer back to previous lessons learnt to avoid repeat events.

As one of the first of its kind, SAM enables live safety feedback from site directly to our Safety Team as well as ensuring the successful implementation of railway safety briefing in 24/7. Which remains an ever-important process in improving health, safety and wellbeing of all those working in the rail industry.

SAM is 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.

The collective want and subsequent aims of what would become SAM were to develop a ‘hub’ for safety matters that could be accessed by any member of the workforce, on the go, 24/7. And we have delivered just that, and it’s only the beginning.

Once the initial concept for SAM was formed and approved for further development as part of the McGinley SUPPORT programme, safety representatives from CAKE and ROES, our marketing communications manager, HSQE Director and Track Director hosted a series of focus groups on how SAM would fit into working life for the workforce. Using this to shape the five-phase plan of SAM app development, aiming to take SAM from a close call app (phase one) to a ‘worker hub’ (phase 5 and beyond).

SAM is available to all McGinley Support Services employees and workers regardless of the trade and location, as well as our customers and suppliers.

Along with McGinley SECURE our online safety knowledge base which holds all data supplied into SAM, SAM is an important mobile tool in our safety toolbox to promote safe working across the rail industry.

How has SAM made a difference?

Each worker reporting a close call through SAM receives an email to thank them and outline actions that may be taken. This confidential, personal touch has been key in changing worker perceptions on close-call reporting, which have risen by 70% since SAM launched in April 2018 – bringing huge benefits to frontline staff and Network Rail as workers actively champion safety in their day-to-day duties.

SAM can bring added value through improved safety figures, which will be measured and demonstrated through working time lost due to injury or ill health in our performance reporting. McGinley’s behavioural based safety (BBS) programme has also brought added value in reinforcing positive workplace behaviours for other clients, reflected in our driving down the RIDDOR reporting rate from a high of 1.48 when we started to a current level of 0.09 and a fatality weighted index of 0.0092.“