Cliff Moody

Said the following about Gary Chambers:

“Gary has worked tirelessly over the past year to improve the safety of our front-line teams in the North East Route. His innovation and drive have helped introduce new tools, equipment, and processes that prioritise the safety of our colleagues.

Many health risks on the railway are unavoidable. They’re present in much of the maintenance work our front-line teams do on a day-to-day basis. But by thinking creatively and changing the way our front-line teams work, Gary has helped mitigate these risks and reduce the possibility of incidents or accidents occurring.

He has worked closely with front-line staff to trail new equipment, listening and learning to see what works best for them and implementing the changes they want to see. Gary also collaborates with Maintenance Engineers, Route Asset Engineers, and other Health, Safety, and Environment advisors to reduce or eliminate the prevalent occupational health risks that exist in maintenance work.

These improvements include:

• Reducing the vibration in our tools to control people’s exposure to hand-arm vibration syndrome, a debilitating condition caused by repeated use of hand-held power tools.

• Minimised the sound emitted by tools therefore reducing the long-term effects they can have on people’s hearing.

• Helping to design new tools that are lighter and easier to manoeuvre, making manual handling safer and less likely to lead to musculoskeletal injuries.

Gary has also helped set up regular health and wellbeing events for Network Rail maintenance colleagues in the North East Route. Plenty of activities were on offer for attendees, such as health check-ups, healthy eating workshops, interactive games, and talks with personal protective equipment suppliers. These events have offered a valuable opportunity for people to take time away from their front-line jobs and check in with their physical and mental wellness.

Gary is a service to those he works with and supports – they know he’s looking out for their interests. He always strives to make sure everyone goes home safe, every day.“