Spotlight: we've got safety in the bag
Walkers Snack Foods is the UK’s number one
food brand, with over 11 million people devouring the snacks every
day. Managing health and safety at the biggest crisp factory in the
world is down to Rachel Betteridge, who has her work cut out making
sure production at the busy manufacturing site runs smoothly.
The combined injury rate for food and drink industries is among
the highest manufacturing injury rates in the UK. The overall
injury rate is 1.6 times that of construction, traditionally seen
as one of the highest risk sectors.
The health and safety team at the Walkers site in Leicester
is led by Health and Safety Manager Rachel Betteridge. It
dealt with 159 accidents last year, giving them an accident rate of
4.59 per 100,000 hours, and a RIDDOR rate of 0.4 per 100,000
hours.
“The majority of the accidents we see among
our 1,200 employees are just minor cuts and bruises, and it’s
usually down to the area getting busy and congested.
“We pride ourselves on driving down accident
rates, which have been reduced by over 60 per cent in five years.
We do all we can to make sure that major accidents don’t
happen.
“We believe employee engagement is key to a
successful safety culture. Over 2,200 near miss reports were
submitted by employees last year. We risk assess and investigate
each one, and then take action. We also make sure that we feed back
to the worker involved.”
Planned general safety inspections of the factory’s equipment
are carried out every month by Safety Action Teams which are led by
production managers.
“One issue we face is that the site doesn’t
stop running, so the equipment sees a lot of wear. It’s not unusual
for things to get damaged or to stop working so it’s a requirement
that each operator checks their key safety devices, including the
emergency stop buttons and safety guards, in their work areas every
shift.”
There are four people in the health and safety team, but Rachel
also works closely with the production managers and the Safety
Action Teams they have on site.
“Each area has a team of employees who cover
health and safety in their area. We have 16 teams in total covering
the different shifts and promoting health and safety to
colleagues.
“We hold a Safety Action Team leader forum
each quarter so I can pass on my knowledge and guidance to the
teams. It’s also a chance for them to give feedback.”
Walkers has monthly general team meetings so that the production
teams can go through the safety performance score cards from their
areas.
“We discuss their safety performance, what
issues there are and if any training is needed. We then produce
targeted training programmes from the feedback we get.
“The Safety Action Teams make a massive
difference to what happens on site as they’re constantly keeping an
eye on what’s going on. They have a full programme in place to keep
employees engaged, with parts of the programme refreshed regularly
to keep everyone interested. The teams have now taken on most of
the risk assessments and training in their individual areas.”
Walkers runs its own safety management system and audit
programme to drive safety in all UK sites. It covers leadership,
training and behavioural safety. From the hard work put in by the
site, Leicester is currently leading in contractor management.
Rachel and her team regularly stage promotional health and
safety events.
“The most recent one we had was called ‘Make
safety your goal everywhere, every day’. We had games and fun
exercises where people could win prizes. We find interactive
activities far more effective than written materials because we
have a multinational site and English isn’t always the first
language here.”
She adds:
“In health and safety, it’s the small things
that make a difference. So many different things can happen in one
day, but when someone thanks me for my time or for providing them
with support or advice, it’s then I notice what an effect I can
have.”
Factfile:
- Rachel Betteridge has been a member of IOSH since 2007 and
belongs to the Midland Branch and the Environmental and Waste
Management Group
- Gary Lineker, the former Leicester City football player and
England captain, has been the face of Walkers for more than 10
years and has starred in over 72 adverts
- Walkers was founded by Henry Walker in the 1880s
Links:
IOSH event:
National
food and drink manufacture health and safety conference
60 second interview
John Lacey, chair of the Construction
Group, talks to Connect
It's been suggested that the construction sector contracted by
more than two per cent in the first three months of this year. What
impact will this have on health and safety?
I think the worry is that companies will look
at cutting back on areas such as training. I also think companies
will look at the cheaper options in terms of tenders, and as we all
know the cheapest option isn’t necessarily the safest option.
Traditionally, the industry suffers from a large number of
work-related deaths – mainly people who are self-employed or work
for small firms. What can be done to make a difference?
The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate
Homicide Act and new Health and Safety (Offences) Act should act as
more of a deterrent to rogue firms but not the self-employed.
I'd like to see an improvement in enforcement, and the industry
making more use of professional bodies such as IOSH and its
members. We can work with businesses and enforcement bodies to try
and reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries that affect
construction.
Foreign construction workers are twice as likely to be killed or
seriously injured at work. What can the health and safety
profession do to combat this?
It’s true that foreign workers are more
vulnerable because they are working and often living within a
different culture. They typically come into the low skill areas of
the industry, so it’s essential that the safety culture that’s
adopted by larger organisations is carried forward and taken up by
smaller firms.
Do you think Workers’ Memorial Day should become a new Bank
Holiday?
No, but I do think it should be given a
higher profile as in other countries. I’d like to see IOSH play its
part in lobbying for a higher profile Memorial Day next year.
Some people might be thinking of attending this year’s
InterConstruct conference in Edinburgh but need to be convinced of
the benefits – particularly when budgets are being squeezed. What
would you say to them?
I'd say that there will be a number of
experts speaking at the event who have a great deal to say about
how we, as safety professionals, can cope with the financial
climate that's affecting the industry. It’s an ideal forum to
listen and learn from others about how safety can remain high on
the agenda even in these austere times.
There’s also the opportunity to network and
make valuable contacts with other people in the industry who share
similar problems such as the health and safety of vulnerable and
migrant workers.
Do you want to be considered for a 60 Second Interview?
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