Recruitment
“The Track Safety Alliance is a group of like-minded organisations operating in the rail delivery market to improve health and safety for the rail workforce. Following a series of serious accidents, the group was formed in 2011 with just six core member organisations (McGinley Support Services, AmeyColas, Babcock, Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Network Rail). Today, the group is 44 strong, consisting of the original core members and contractors such as Colas Rail, Transport for London, Volker Rail, trade unions, labour suppliers and plant and machinery suppliers.
The alliance aims to effect change through sharing new initiatives, collaboratively developing new systems and processes to keep people safe across the rail network.
The Track Safety Alliance was brought together to build strong relationships to share information and best practice and innovation. Although the founding members were competitors, it was agreed that there is no competitive advantage when it comes to saving lives, and this is what underpins the Track Safety Alliance’s ethos. Accidents within the rail industry are increasing, a trend every member of the Track Safety Alliance wants to reverse. We can achieve this through collaboration and want to realise the following outcomes:
1. Improve safety standards for the workforce by sharing best practice and mistakes
2. Ensure everyone is educated in the lifesaving rules and abides by these rules
3. Reduce the number of accidents through innovation and fair culture process.
The 'no blame, share with pain and pride' approach allows the Track Safety Alliance to understand issues and problems in a unique way. Historically, safety initiatives are led by top-down management with no real understanding of how this impacts on front line delivery. All levels of the supply chain are represented within the Track Safety Alliance to understand the cause and effect of changes made to policies and procedures at the senior level. Often the front line worker is an agency worker who historically has had no voice. The Track Safety Alliance facilitates events that give that voice. In an example of true partnership, the ideas from the bottom are often used to form policy in a bottom-up management meets top-down management style.
Project Objectives
The driving principle behind this project is instrumental to its success: all partners must fully buy in and be the driving force behind the ideas. As such, this alliance is fully funded by its members, reinforcing their commitment to achieving the Track Safety Alliance’s objectives;
 To ensure there is a system for the flow of effective information (both upward and downward) between Alliance members and their respective employees.
 Monitor performance and trends through consideration of event data and audit findings.
 Facilitate the spread of track delivery best practice throughout the Alliance and when appropriate with the rest of the industry.
 Develop a formal process for the communication of lessons learned throughout the Alliance.
 Review the output from other industry groups for impact on track delivery.
 Consider/discuss new and proposed H & S legislation, in particular, its possible impacts on track.
 Make appropriate recommendations for action on specific health and safety issues.
 Facilitate collaboration, networking and sharing between supply chain members who historically have been cautious of collaboration with peers.
Current Track Safety Alliance Workstreams across all levels are as follows:
 Welfare workstreams and Issues definition and education
 Fatigue understanding and consequences, RSSB Surveys and TSA Conferences
 PPE, Gloves, Glasses, Boots, RPE Headsets, Thermal Helmet liners
 Wellbeing - Water bottles, Thermos Cups, Lunch bags, Hand sanitizers
 Sustainability – Behaviours, best practice introduced
 Driving and Fatigue risk awareness programme
 Wellbeing definitions and options, Heath Challenge
 Defibrillator Challenge launched and shared
 Exclusion Zone work stream
 Site Access Control Competence being created
How does the TSA communicate its messages to support its objectives?
Bespoke Website
The Track Safety Alliance member organisation introduced a bespoke website for anyone to use to learn more about track safety and how we can make a change; the website features an in-depth resources zone, video portal, events, news and safety alerts updates to name a few. The website also features a 'share with pride' and a 'share with pain' sections for Track Safety Alliance members to share best practice as well as lessons learnt. The Track Safety Alliance recognises that whilst we are competing organisations, there is no competitive advantage when it comes to saving lives. Whatever we can share, we must.
Short engaging films
As mentioned above the Track Safety Alliance elected to use specially commissioned films uploaded onto the Track Safety Alliance website and social media to communicate issues which are affecting track workers across the UK. The videos are freely available to any member of the rail and or wider infrastructure industry. The series of short films have covered an introduction to the TSA, waste management, great crested newts, Japanese Knotweed, ballast dust, near misses, prep4winter, prep4safety, safety innovation, fatigue and working at height. The content for these films is based on industry hot topics, the feedback we get from the workers as to what is affecting their daily lives and or what they would like to see promoted. The films are a targeted and engaging way of communicating the Track Safety Alliance's message to staff and offer endorsements from all participating organisations including Network Rail. This is helping to enforce the message and provide it with legitimacy and strength.
TSA Forums
Bi-annual forums are held with track workers, safety managers and operational managers all in attendance to represent the views and ideas of their own organisations and to successes and challenges with each other.
Each forum takes on a different challenge for safety in the industry and looks at how we can start to resolve these issues and change behaviours.
There have been 17 Track Safety Alliance conferences successfully held with two more planned for 2019. This adds up to approx. 4000 attendees.
Some of the safety campaigns and innovations that have come out of these events for wider industry adoption are:
 Track Safety Alliance Tea Trolley Created
 Black Hat Introduced across IP- Track
 15 days of Christmas Advent Consequences posters shared 2,240 Posters printed and shared to date.
 Track Safety Alliance Health Challenge (February 2019), 2,000 booklets printed, sent and shared PDF version with all members.
 90 Second Defibrillator Challenge
 Other national campaigns adopted by all members, for example, Prep4 Summer, Prep4Winter, Prep4Safety
 Close Call Champions: Target of 90, Close Call Champions Trained Actual 350 To date (Covers all TSA Companies and NWR Works Delivery and Maintenance )
 Close Call Champion Training Material refreshed - three courses ran in 2019
Engaging safety campaigns highlighting key safety messages
• 15 days of Christmas Advent consequences safety campaign shared across the TSA community over the work intensive Christmas period.
• New consequences campaign currently running
In summary
• 14 Track Safety Alliance films created
• Over a 100, 000 Viewing figures - combined figures website and YouTube
• 2019, 15 days of Christmas Advent Consequences safety campaign shared across all the members of the TSA and across the rail industry – with social media posts achieving c 30k views. A second campaign is currently running with two of five safety messages issued.
• 850 Track safety Alliance Ecology Handbooks sent out to date.
End Results
Impacts and Outcomes
• Recognition from Office of Rail Regulation for our work on Ballast Dust
• 350 close call champions trained to date (Covers all TSA Companies and NWR Works Delivery and Maintenance )
 17 Track Safety Alliance conferences successfully held, two more planned for 2019. This equates to almost 4000 attendees. Track workers, managers, safety professionals, Directors through the same door with one clear message
 14 Track Safety Alliance films created, with over a 100,000 viewing figures combined from TSA website and YouTube
Conclusions
Widely recognised and known across the Rail Industry, also support from key influential Bodies including ORR, RAIB and RSSB, Network Rail. Various Hugely successful campaigns launched over the last few years that have been greatly received and shared with all the TSA Member companies .
Collaboration has been the key to the success of the TSA over the recent years, this has been at the forefront of the TSA ethos and improve health and safety for front line workers and all involved“
“Safety Comms and campaigns have had a real positive impact across the network. Really bringing home the safety message. Great work.“
“I would like to thank you for a great night on Saturday at the ICC in Birmingham, everybody on the GrantRail table thoroughly enjoyed themselves.”
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