Your copy of Home Safe 07 January 2022

Southern Capital Delivery

Home Safe

Southern Shield Weekly Safety Update

07 January 2022

Happy New Year!

I know many of us were working over the Christmas break, but I do hope you have all had the chance to spend some time with family and friends and recharge the batteries ready for 2022. Looking back at 2021, we achieved a huge amount, but equally we have seen an increase in accidents and incidents over the last 6 months.

I am sure that if I spoke with each of you individually, each and every one of you would say that safety is at the heart of everything we do, and I would believe you – but somehow, despite all of our best efforts, we are still not managing to send everyone home safe every day.

To address this, we are planning a Safety Stand Up as soon as government guidelines in relation to COVID allow. We will be keeping the communication flowing over the coming weeks while we firm up on the date for the event – so watch this space!

Work carried out over Christmas

There was some great work carried out over the Christmas period - too much to share here - so here's a small montage of images from Sussex.

The Telecoms team replaced the main departure boards on the London Victoria Sussex concourse with the latest technology Red Green Blue (RGB) LED Screens . This brings into service the biggest screen of its kind in the country on another one of our flagship stations following our previous Waterloo Station works.

This screen will give the station teams an enhanced platform to share different types of content as required, which should improve the customer experience as they travel through the station. This work was accelerated to the Christmas period to make use of the station closure during Vic 3 resignalling works.

Victoria RGB screens

Intersection Bridges work

The structures team continued their campaign of painting works at Intersection Bridges, which covers a number of structures on the approach to Victoria and Waterloo stations. Due to the restricted access at this location, the majority of works have to be undertaken from towers and disruption by third parties due to their location on the throat to major stations make these particularly challenging sites.

Works carried out at East Croydon

Everyone home safe every day

Our commitment to our safety vision will be reinforced this year with events and briefings - our aim being to eliminate the accidents and injuries suffered in 2021.

However, not everyone went home safe every day of the Christmas period, with these injuries taking place between 24 December and 4 January:

A worker was chain sawing timber when dust from the wood got into their right eye. They were taken to hospital and subsequently discharged after their eye was washed.
A welder stepping out of the van stepped on the back step, which gave way. This led to the welder landing awkwardly and twisting their ankle. First aid was administered and they attended hospital where an x-ray found it be a sprain, not a break.

Could either of these accidents have been avoided? Was the worker who got sawdust in their eye wearing protective goggles? Was the back step of the van defective? If so, had anyone reported it?

NSCDs go-live

Negative Short Circuiting Devices (NSCDs) will go live for Works Delivery-led worksites in Sussex and Wessex from 8 January.

There is an NSCD supplementary information page live on Safety Central, here, which features the below:

1) Live NSCD coverage maps
2) Updated LCP location information
3) NSCD operation refresher videos

This page is accessible to all Network Rail staff and the extended supply chain, so please continue to cascade this link throughout your teams and to your affected suppliers.

For further information or support, please contact Dave Pereira.

Share the safety messages

Please share these important safety messages by using Home Safe in your team and site briefings. You can click here for a printable PDF version.

If you know of a colleague who would like to receive future Southern Shield messages contact shield@networkrail.co.uk.

Contact us: shield@networkrail.co.uk or go to www.southernshield.co.uk