Kirk Taylor

Said the following about Stobart Rail Safety Department:

“Stobart Rail has masterminded an innovative new health, safety and wellbeing campaign featuring three animated characters Billy, Gus and Jim.

This started out as an internal initiative, but fuelled by the Health and Safety Team’s contagious passion this has grown into a major national project that is driving improvements not only throughout Stobart’s workforce, but also with our industry partners, and the potential next generation of railway staff.

Our Health and Safety Team engaged with all of our colleagues to identify the issues that can affect health, safety and wellbeing during our daily activities. The team worked with employees to identify trends and concerns raised through our close call system and site visits. They stressed the importance of identifying these issues and did not want employees to worry about sharing their thoughts and suggestions.

Working with a local graphic designer the team then developed these issues into an imaginative series of posters that use humour and dramatic imagery to great effect. They have created an amazing thirty-four posters, featuring important issues including Billy, Gus and Jim encouraging positive mental health, positive environmental awareness and good housekeeping. The characters deal with a wide selection of safety issues and individual roles that our workforce can relate to.

The team consisting of Steve Ferrington, Carl Nicholson, Rachael Burnett, Andrew Sumner and Hayley Slack, has taken the campaign into their own hands by heading out on the road with our life sized cut-outs of Billy, Gus and Jim. The campaign has so far taken them from Inverness to Cumbria, and soon to London. As part of the Gospel Oak to Barking Electrification Project Network Rail and Murphy Group will be joining them to explain the dangers and importance of safety on the railway.

Working together with Network Rail, colleagues, contractors and local communities, the team is rolling out this programme across all Stobart Rail activities. Douglas Craig, Network Rail’s Project Manager “I have been encouraged by Stobart Rail’s attitude to health and safety since tendering for the Far North Plain Line Track Refurbishment Contract. Upon contract award, Stobart Rail introduced their new health and safety campaign and explained they would like to launch it on our project. I was keen to help and assisted at Lochardil Primary School, where we encouraged the local school children to name the characters and discuss railway safety matters. The day was truly engaging and a great success. This demonstrates Stobart Rail’s commitment to local communities and a desire to raise awareness and improve safety.”

Andy Graham, Network Rail Resource Planner said “When we were shown the materials from Stobart Rail it was apparent how much time and effort had been put into the campaign and how serious safety is for their own staff and the wider community. The local trespass issue within the local catchment of the school provided an opportunity to take the danger message of the railway infrastructure to the children. The engagement of staff and children was brilliant and feedback showed the message had been well received. We hope to make this a regular event.”

The Safety Team have three more characters joining the campaign who will help to highlight other issues for employees including mental health, working with disabilities, religious beliefs, trespassing and office environments. The new characters will be given names when they go to London.

To collate all the information together the team have produced an eye-catching handbook for all employees. The handbook starts with an introduction about the campaign and explains why they have developed the new posters. All the posters are included and supported with statistics, they have provided contact details from the Mental Health Charity ‘Mind’ and included as much useful information as possible to promote a positive attitude towards health and safety.

Stobart Rail’s Managing Director, Kirk Taylor, said ‘The safety and wellbeing of our staff is our highest priority. This campaign is based on relatable circumstances that our staff encounter regularly, with characters they identify with. It’s about raising personal awareness to threats that we’re exposed to on a daily basis. The school campaign that the team has now initiated is reaching our young people in locations across our rail network, as well as introducing them to the rail industry. We are helping to educate them on the importance of safety when they are near our railways.’

The poster campaign has already started to make a noticeable difference. Stobart Rail is now proactively promoting positive mental health and engaging with Mind to offer support service to all employees. Employees attitude towards safety has improved with the number of close calls being reported increasing and more employees talking to the safety department about their safety concerns.

The latest version can be viewed here:

https://app.box.com/s/ayaivohcw5cq7rj0n4oqy897o6np58ni“