Frances Garvey

Said the following about Abbie Wood:

“Abbie works tirelessly to ensure all her colleagues within the DU are supported. She goes above and beyond every day and is constantly thinking of new and improved ways of doing things. She is creative and kind and a pleasure to work alongside.

Since joining the railway, Abbie has gone from strength to strength and developed a multitude skills and relationships that will take her far.

With a passion to raise awareness to females of careers in the rail industry, Abbie is an actual role model on the platform for WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) and also works with Brightside to mentor female students.

On top of her day-to-day work, she drives Diversity and Inclusion and Wellbeing activities that have been recognised by her colleagues as best practice.

Having joined the Safety Managers team in December 2020, Abbie has been recognised to take on a multitude of challenges to help and support her colleagues and women outside of the business.

One of her passions is to raise awareness of careers available to women and to motivate them to apply. Working with Brightside Mentoring, Abbie mentors students between the ages of 16-18. She shares her knowledge of the different careers that are available within the rail and wider engineering industries as well as the qualifications and courses that can be taken to progress towards a certain career. This high level of engagement with Abbie has inspired her mentees to apply for roles that they would not have considered previously.

Abbie can be considered as a STEM representative as she regularly attends Diversity & Inclusion forums to give talks on being a female in a STEM career at Network Rail. She has also worked closely with the Early Engagement team where she delivered events such as the Big Bang to showcase the environmental impact Network Rail has. On top of this, she is also a role model on the WISE platform where women who match to Abbie’s profile can get in contact to ask questions on careers in the industry. In light of these achievements, Abbie has recently been asked to create a STEM strategy for the Inspire team which will outline target audiences, how to engage with them, future apprenticeships for different sectors and much more.

It’s within Abbie’s nature to seek development and apply this within the area she works. There is a perception that D&I is not high enough on the agenda in some areas and Abbie has taken it upon herself to reach out to subject experts for advice. She received materials and subsequently was involved in briefing several Network Rail teams to raise awareness and the impact of racial issues.

Another example of Abbie’s proactive nature and ability to change the culture within Network Rail, is when there was a case of potential mental health issues in an Off Track team. Abbie researched and provided 3rd party support to male employees that would not normally reach out for help. This has been delivered to a team of approximately 250 employees and was recognised by her line manager and Head of Safety for the route. It is now intended to be rolled out to wider route and reach 2100 employees.

The final example which demonstrates Abbie’s abilities, is during her time as a Seasons Delivery Specialist. She had identified that frontline teams would have to go trackside every fortnight to check traction gel applicators (TGA’s). A major target for the business is to keep employees safe and reduce the amount of trackside work completed. With this in mind, Abbie approached a company who offered remote monitoring for TGA’s and did further research before presenting to her line manager. After highlighting the potential benefits of staff going lineside less frequently and allowing them to be productive with their time, a trial of this equipment was initiated. The trial required the employees to become more flexible and change their ways of working. Abbie engaged with the effected colleagues and explained the reason for the change and how it was ultimately to put their safety first. The trial is still underway, and Abbie has since moved on but is keen to see how it progresses.“