Creating a ‘custom built’ safety program with a market leading traffic management contractor
HW Martin (Traffic Management) Ltd’s commitment to a ‘Safe by Choice’ culture created a competitive advantage
16%
improvement in 10 months
Challenge
JMJ’s relationship with HW Martin (Traffic Management) Ltd, began when they participated in a safety culture session we facilitated for a tier one construction company. The approach encouraged HW Martin (Traffic Management) Ltd’s senior leadership team (SLT) to overhaul their own safety culture with the intention of creating a safer workplace where all employees look out for one another. In a high-risk environment, the safety of employees, partners and customers is one of the company’s core values. The SLT resolved to build a bespoke safety behaviour change programme. They engaged JMJ to help make their vision a reality.
Solution
Together, JMJ and HW Martin (Traffic Management) Ltd designed a bespoke safety culture approach called ‘Safe by Choice’ (SBC) which embodies the company’s organizational and personal commitment to health, safety and wellbeing. Key elements of the approach:
- Ensuring all employees have the awareness and knowledge to make safer, more informed choices, make their voices heard and take full responsibility for their own health, safety and wellbeing
- Developing a tailored suite of training and development workshops complimented by a communications calendar to cascade the safety message throughout the workforce
- Creating leaders at all levels of the organization responsible for embedding the ideals of SBC in their day-to-day jobs
- Promoting SBC in a way that ensures employees see the value of it as a natural part of what they already do
- Providing ongoing support and mentoring for leaders at all levels to help them continue to embed SBC
- Facilitating constructive conversations and interactions between the SLT and front-line employees.
- Promoting the right kind of safety behaviors and embedding a SBC culture
With strong direction and guidance from the SLT, people were encouraged to take ownership of, and responsibility for, their own safety, and that of others. They understood the company’s authentic commitment to ‘SBC’ and felt confident to speak up knowing their concerns would be listened to and acted on.
Client Goals
- Achieve the company’s objective of ensuring everyone goes home safe, happy, and healthy every day
- Create and sustain a custom-built, industry-leading behavioral safety culture aligned with National Highways and other tier one contractors in their industry
- Empower all employees, particularly those on the front-line, to be safety leaders
- Use safety as a unique selling point to support the generation of new contract opportunities
- Train ‘influencers’ to lead and embed a progressive safety culture across the business and become in-house experts
In terms of tangible results, right from the start we noted a nearly 50% increase in the number of near misses reported, and a 14% increase in compliance at Gate Audits
We are only at the beginning of our Safe by Choice journey, but already we can see evidence of the positive changes it’s bring to our culture. Safety at HW Martin (Traffic Management) Ltd is led by everyone from everywhere.
Results
HW Martin (Traffic Management) Ltd’s safety record has already shifted as a result of ‘SBC’ with leadership more visible and people feeling empowered to speak up. As a result, if something does happen, the company can demonstrate clear procedures and a strong SBC culture to understand why things went wrong and make sure it doesn’t happen again. This has helped build confidence with the company’s clients, making HW Martin (Traffic Management) Ltd. a traffic management partner of choice and contributing to the securing of major national contracts.
Key takeaways
- There is a strong business case for investing in a safety culture approach, but its success ultimately depends upon authentic commitment from leadership
- Consistency and repetition of the key messages of the safety culture across all employee touch points is crucial to successful implanting of the culture
- Open lines of communication up and down the chain for transparent communication is important for building the necessary trust
- Don’t run before you can walk – transformation can be a slow process; the earlier you begin, and the stronger the commitment, the faster you will see results
- In today’s highly competitive market, creating a strong culture of care and concern helps differentiate you from other contractors and ensure you are the partner of choice
Increased compliance
16% improvement in ten months
RIDDOR free
Ended the first year with zero reportable injuries
Shift in safety culture
Near-miss reporting increased by nearly 50%