The RailStaff Awards 2024

Kelly Scott

Said the following about IP Track and TSA and Selectequip:

“TEAM - IP Track, Track Safety Alliance and Selectequip.

Mobile Expandable Wellbeing Unit (MEWU)

For the first time everyone working trackside has access to welfare facilities including toilet and life-saving equipment, within two minutes of their worksite.

This provides better and more inclusive welfare for our workforce and increases safety, efficiency and passenger satisfaction.

Features:

• Portable design suitable for challenging locations such as embankments and near overhead lines

• Highly visible phosphorescent banding provides light and recharges by day

• Expands to include defibrillators and first-aid essentials

• Recycled and energy efficient

• Lightweight and easy to install, maintain and remove

Stone age welfare:

Despite investing more in the railways since the Victorian era, some worksite welfare facilities remained positively stone age; often inadequate and sometimes non-existent. Meaning that some track workers were walking up to twenty minutes to use a toilet, or worse using the natural environment.

Walking track-side, late at night on large sites with no permanent lighting can be hazardous, and it can be difficult to locate facilities like first-aid.

The lack of decent facilities is non-inclusive and detrimental to employee safety and wellbeing. It also impacts passenger satisfaction through delayed line handbacks.

Collaborative Approach:

Network Rail Track team worked collaboratively with the Track Safety Alliance and Selectequip to develop, design and deploy a new inclusive welfare facility to address the root cause.

We adopted a range of communication activities to garner support, involving front line track workers throughout; using their insight to shape the prototype and subsequent refinements.

Innovation:

At eight-foot high, the bright orange units are unmissable; with phosphorescent banding that generates light to maximise visibility and recharges during the day.

The units are portable, so they can be located within two minutes of the workforce, even at complex locations like embankments or near overhead lines. The expandable feature provides space for a full SOS station, including a defibrillator and stretcher, alongside kits for first-aid, burns, eyewash and spills.

Clever use of space provides segregated toilet facilities and essentials for a diverse workforce including; coat hooks; light; mirrors and sanitary bins.

The final design is lightweight, compact and made from robust recycled material. It features an anti-slip floor and easily serviced cassette toilet. Two units can be transported on a flatbed truck as they have the same footprint as a euro-pallet.

Welfare and Wellbeing

Our workforce has a more hygienic, environmentally-friendly welfare provision which provides inclusive hygiene needs and access to life-saving equipment.

Easier access to suitable welfare facilities is more efficient and it means that rest breaks are more effective. This helps reduce fatigue and contributes to a more productive workforce with greater wellbeing.

Providing more inclusive facilities supports our diversity and inclusion strategy and encourages more women to join our industry.

Although in the early deployment stage, key performance metrics like over runs and delay minutes already show improvement. The incidence of slips, trips and falls (our highest injury type) has also reduced.

With the focus on wellbeing and safety, this holistic approach is making a positive impression on both the employee and passenger experience.“