Southern Region serves rail passengers and freight operators from West to East. The region has 3,300 miles of track covering Dorset, Hampshire, East and West Sussex, Surrey, Kent and South London.
Southern Region is an integral part of Network Rail’s strategic plan to become a more passenger-focused Company. Network Rail’s ‘Putting Passengers First’ (PPF) mantra is about passengers and freight users; is easy to engage with and is a Company people are proud to work for.
Background
As part of its commitment to PPF, Southern Region engaged Benchmark to design and deliver a transformational, face to face, behavioural safety development programme for 206 of its front-line maintenance teams in Kent and Sussex Routes; some 3,000 people. The aim was clear: Implement a programme that significantly improves track worker safety. Using our extensive railway knowledge and through listening to and harnessing the experience of experienced track workers, opinion formers, managers and influencers we gained a clear picture of the problem. We applied our creative minds to the problem and the solution began to manifest itself.
That solution? Use a coach approach and deliver the development in the workplace without compromising the safety or performance of the team being developed. Not easy but we knew it could be achieved and we knew the impact would be transformational. And so to work. Our detailed solution was seized upon quickly and accepted universally. The programme was called, quite simply, ‘BeST’ and a series of pilot courses were planned and delivered. Through them, the BeST concept was proved. Feedback was exceptional from the outset and the Region knew that it had a winning solution on its hands as we embarked collectively, in early 2019, upon the BeST Development Programme.
What is BeST?
BeST is Behavioural Safety Training that is bespoke to each maintenance team. Each team attends a one-day foundation module to introduce them to the BeST concept, tools and techniques. Thereafter, the balance of their learning is conducted on their operational work site to ensure the learning is always bespoke and contextualized. Through BeST we improve each team’s level of concentration and situational awareness. Progress is measured and reported after each of three on-site coaching visits. We call them ‘Embedment Visits’ and throughout each we work progressively and collaboratively with the team and its leader to improve their:
- Working memory capacity
- Levels of situational awareness
- Identification of hazards and management of the associated risk
- Ability to hold Safety Conversations
- Ability to address unsafe behaviour
- Understanding and use of Risk-Based Commentary
- Ability to employ BeST tools and techniques including:
- Using trigger words to heighten situational awareness
- Pre-Deployment Briefings and post-briefing Q&A
- ‘Take 5, Ask 5’
- Ground scanning & judging distance
Through BeST, Kent and Sussex Routes are able to make a significant contribution towards their ‘Putting Passengers First’ goals. BeST has helped maintenance teams improve their planning and preparedness in order to complete their work right first time, safely and with no requirement for re-working. This is achieved by:
- Enabling individuals in each team to create and sustain a positive, can-do mindset to their work
- Helping them ensure their team, safe work plan, tools, equipment and vehicles are always ‘Task-Ready’
Encouraging improved levels of task preparedness, concentration and situational awareness to enable teams to identify and rectify/report all faults they reasonably can by using the maxim “If it can be done, and done safely, then we’ll do it”.
Has BeST Been Successful?
In a word ‘Yes’. The incidence of incidents and injuries has decreased dramatically since BeST coaching commenced. Lost time injury frequency rates are at an all-time low and safe performance has been embraced as a concept to be proud of and promoted.
Contact Us
If your operational work teams are facing some of the challenges that BeST tackles then please get in touch and we will be happy to explain more about this type of programme and its proven benefits.