DB Cargo UK has launched a new campaign to promote safety excellence throughout the business.
Its goal is to make all staff feel confident enough to question any activities that may concern them, and it is already receiving positive feedback.
All employees have been issued with a safety intervention card which gives them the authority, backed by management, to challenge any activity or instruction they believe is unsafe – whether that’s by or from a colleague, customer or contractor.
They are then encouraged to follow the ‘stop, discuss, resolve and review’ process that DB Cargo UK has seen used effectively in other industry settings.
The campaign, entitled ‘Together. We’re Safer. Together. We’re DB’, came about as a result of the company’s largest ever safety research project, which was held last year and consisted of a series of in-depth staff focus groups.
It was developed in collaboration with design agency Studio Up North (SUN), which took the study’s findings and visited sites in order to understand what DB Cargo UK was aiming to achieve.
The campaign is being backed up by new behavioural safety training, which is being rolled out to ground staff, engineers, drivers and asset owners over the next few weeks.
Marc Binney, Head of Safety at DB Cargo UK, said:If we’re to succeed in sustaining a positive and healthy safety culture where colleagues are comfortable to challenge unsafe acts and be open to challenge themselves, then we must work together and look out for each other.
Empowering colleagues to intervene when things don’t look safe – even if their concerns ultimately prove to be unfounded – shows they care and they will not be criticised for doing so.
We want colleagues to intervene with the reassurance and confidence that they have the company’s full support in doing so.
