THE THAMESLINK PROGRAMME

FREE!

EVERYONE GETS HOME SAFE EVERY DAY!

ISSUE 16 APRIL/MAY 2016

FREE!

I MATTER, YOU MATTER, WE MATTER

There once was a Work Package Plan copied and pasted,

From a version that was wrong and very back dated.The paper was read by the gang that evening,

But no-one spotted the errant meaning.

The possession was granted, the gang briefed and ready.

Earthing straps dragged from the van nice and steady.The Work Package Plan read Up line blocked.

Why hadn’t that typo ever been clocked?

The gang strode out onto the four foot ballast.An experienced team, their hands hard

and calloused.The evening was clear, they had nothing to fear.

Strange… was that a slight waft of beer?

Big yellow plant. A blast of its horn.It was on the Down, I could have sworn.

Approaching at speed and on the Up.They look much bigger when seen close-up.

No time to move.Only deep regret.A beer and a typo.

It was Russian Roulette.

A whole gang lost from cut and paste.A whole gang lost for the sake of haste.

A whole gang lost to one more beer.A whole gang lost. They had no fear.

Why we are all an important part of the bigger picture

SO… RECENT FEEDBACK tells us that you like to see photographs of yourself and others that work in our Programme. We couldn’t include everyone but hope-fully if you don’t see your own face you will recognise someone on this page. It cannot be said enough… the Thameslink Programme can only be successful if we work together as a team to plan and undertake the works and whilst doing so look out for each other. It felt appropriate to include not only the photos of some of you but a reminder of why documentation plays a vital role in keeping you safe too.

SAFETY – WHAT’S THE PRICE OF A DOCUMENT?

Poem by Bruce Sherring-Lucas, Programme Engineering Manager, Thameslink

32 APRIL/MAY 2016 ISSUE 16

Motorcyclists and cyclistsHIGHWAY CODESO WITH SPRING here and more people happy to cycle in the better weather, it’s a good time to focus on one el-ement of the highway code.

RULE 211It is often difficult to see motorcyclists and cyclists, especially when they are coming up from behind, coming out of junctions, at rounda-bouts, overtaking you or filtering through traffic.

Always look out for them before you emerge from a junction; they could be approaching faster than you think.

When turning right across a line of slow-moving or stationary traffic, look out for cyclists or motorcyclists on the inside of the traf-fic you are crossing.

Be especially careful when turning, and when changing direction or lane.

Be sure to check mir-rors and blind spots carefully.

Article provided by Dominic

Thompson, Health & Safety Manager,

Network Rail

TOUR OF THE SITE Local residents were also invited to a tour of the site on Saturday 30 January 2016. This was attended by a further twenty-two local residents. They were guided around on an hour-long tour, after which a free lunch was enjoyed by all.

Attendees of the open day were encouraged to use social media such as Instagram and Twitter and were asked to fill out feedback forms. The event was a great success with feedback indicat-ing particular highlights:

l ‘Visiting the site and realising how massive the operations actually are’

l ‘Being able to walk around the site and have a full understanding of how it will work’

l ‘Great way to engage with the community around your site.’

Many of the attendees were keen to come on another site tour which is planned to happen in late June 2016.

WHAT ELSE?Staff from Network Rail and Skanska are also actively working on a number of community projects in the local area. Works are being carried out at Lewington Centre to upgrade the community gardens, and there are also plans to renovate the communal gardens on Silwood Street. This will be a collaborative volunteering pro-ject with members of the community.

In December, staff talked about rail safety at a youth event at the Lewing-ton Centre organised by the youth charity XLP. This charity also runs the XL-R8 youth bus project on Sil-wood Street every Tuesday evening, where young people in the community can socialise and engage in a variety of activities such as football, card games and painting. BDU staff also volunteer on this bus project.

WHY DO WE BOTHER? Community engagement is an objective under the Thameslink Sustainability Strategy, and is a part of the Consider-ate Constructor’s Scheme require-ments. Thameslink aims to pro-actively engage with local communities to mini-mise negative impact and to work in partnership to maximise our social contribution.

Bermondsey team tell us what they are doing for the people of Bermondsey

Everybody needs good neighbo

urs

SIEMENS HAVE IN place, a Champions scheme, which recognises the remarka-ble work of its employees across the Sie-mens organisation, based on its core val-ues of:

l Responsiblel Excellentl Innovative andl Siemens Zero Harm policy.

The Champions scheme supports the Siemens culture of recognising the truly great work its people do every day.

There are two different types of awards under the scheme, Instant Thank You awards and Podium awards. The thank you awards are designed to give instant recognition to those individuals and teams whom are exhibiting award category behaviour and principles at an everyday level, often with localised im-pact.

A recent winner of an Instant Thank You award on the Thameslink project was Sam Cowlard, a member of the Sie-mens construction team, who identified an imminent safety risk on site, which could have detrimentally affected the safety of all personnel working on the project in that area. Sam immediately re-moved the risk, so that all members of the Thameslink project working in that area could then go about their work in safety. Thank you Sam!

AS OUR WORK to rebuild London Bridge station continues, we need to re-locate our worksite to Tooley Street. From 30 April 2016, we start work on the new station entrances on Tooley Street and from August 2016 will begin to rebuild platforms 1 to 3. To safely undertake the work on the station front, we need to extend the worksite beyond the station footprint. This means we must partially close the footpath on the station side of the road and one lane of traffic.

To ensure pedestrian safety, prior to the road closure we are removing various pieces of street furniture, including lamp posts and a post box, on the northern footpath to create

more space on the walkway. We are also widen-ing the northern footpath to reduce pinch points.

The traffic management plan for the Tooley Street closure contains provisions for cyclists to be able to travel in both directions – westbound with traffic and eastbound in a segregated lane. To promote these changes and we have been working with the London Cycling Campaign, Southwark Cyclists and Transport for London.

To find out more about the changes to Tooley Street and how they may impact your journey please visit www.thameslinkprogramme.co.uk/tooleystreet

Article by Grete Luxbacher, Communications Manager,

Thameslink

MAJOR CHANGES TO TOOLEY STREET

EVERYONE’S A WINNER

SAM COWLARD

Siemens recognise people

who make a difference

Article by David Thomas, Health & Safety

Manager, Siemens

WHAT THE NEIGHBOURS SAIDThe end of 2015 was a period with lots of truck movement to and from the Ber-mondsey Dive Under project, removing large volumes of spoil from the site through local streets. At this time, there was an increase in concerns raised by our neighbours on and near Silwood Street, particularly about dirt and dust on the road and on cars parked along the access route. One resident also had con-cerns about vibration in his flat, which was the result of riddling works happen-ing onsite.

WHAT WE DID

LETTER The team at Bermondsey Dive Under addressed the concerns immediately, but then also decided to follow this up with a number of community engage-ment events, to improve the relations with their neighbours.

Firstly, a letter was sent to residents to provide a general update on the project, to explain how concerns had been addressed, and to invite residents to an information session at the local Lewington Community Centre on 25 January 2016.

COMMUNITY INFORMATION SESSIONThirteen local residents attended this session, which included an overview of the project and a time-lapse video of the works. Concerns about noise, traffic, and the future use of the arches were all addressed at this session.

Further to last issue’s article about the Operational Duty Managers, the ODM on-call number has had to be changed to 0203 657 5755

STOP PRESSArticle by Susan Alnajafi and

Kirsten Velthuis

NR’s Greg Thornett (far left) and Niyi Denloye (far right) with local residents at BDU

Feedback on Twitter about the site tour

Skanska’s Monika de Cock painting benches for the community garden at the Lewington Centre

The feedback we received shows that these events help to build better rela-tions between Thameslink and our neighbours, improves understanding in the community of the need for the works, and improves our understand-ing of the impact of the works on the local community.

We may be a prominent neighbour, but we aim to be a good neighbour, and to leave behind a positive local legacy. After all, everybody needs good neigh-bours!

NR’s Greg Thornett and Su Alnajafi presenting at Lewington Community Centre Christmas party

The XLP bus visits Silwood Street every

Tuesday evening during school term

An aerial view of Tooley Street

once the station is complete in 2018

54 APRIL/MAY 2016 ISSUE 16

Article by Greg Thornett, Project

Manager – Bermondsey Dive Under and

Structure Strengthening Programme

Article by Niyi Denloye Scheme Project

Manager,SSP,Network Rail

ON TUESDAY, 15th March 2016, Siemens held a series of Safety events.

These events were designed to make Siemens staff and contractors aware of the occupational health and safety risks associ-ated with the job they perform. Although briefings are conducted with the utmost se-riousness and professionalism, sending the message that safety is an important concern, they are designed to be interesting and rele-vant, covering a variety of topics.

TOOL BOX TALKSThe day began with a number of tool box talks, namely:

Siemens recognise that safety briefings are important for a number of reasons, namely:l Awarenessl Improvementl Identificationl Compliance

AWARENESSRaising awareness among workers about the potential dangers associated with their work activities is seen as one of the most important objectives of safety briefings at Siemens. By informing workers of any in-juries that have occurred on the job and un-derlining the real dangers that may be pre-sent in the workplace, it will help keep safety at the forefront of the minds of Siemens employees and contractors.

IMPROVEMENTPlans for the improvement of safety proce-dures or simply an opportunity to discuss safety plans and procedures can also be a useful opportunity presented by safety briefings. As with the Safety Circles, safety briefings can allow staff and contractors to voice any concerns regarding potential safety violations or problems that the pro-ject management team need to be aware of.

IDENTIFICATIONSafety briefings can identify specific prob-lems that need to be addressed in the short term. Other means exist, of course, such as the close call procedure, but any overriding safety concerns can be fully discussed to al-lay the concerns of anyone involved in on-going safety problems, heading off con-cerns before they become a bigger problem.

COMPLIANCESafety briefings can also identify whether compliance to the Client’s, Principal Contractor’s and Siemens own safety procedures can be achieved, and if not, why not. Issues discussed here may in-clude briefings e.g. Task Briefings, and whether these are being conducted prop-erly out in the workplace.

At Siemens we believe we can change the safety culture by changing behaviours, we want our people to be the very change they want to see in the workplace.

Article by David Thomas, Health & Safety Manager, Siemens

THINGS CAN ONLY GET

BETTER

l Vehicle Inspection and Proceduresl Use of Correct Nuts, Bolts and Washers

when installing B3000 Bonds, Plates and Leads

l Stores Protocol and ProceduresToolbox Talks are held on a regular basis

by Siemens, and take the form of informal group discussion, focusing on particular safety issues. These tools are used to pro-mote the Siemens safety culture and to facil-itate health and safety discussions on site.

SAFETY CIRCLESAfter the Tool Box talks, a Safety Circle meeting was held. The purpose of the Safety Circle meeting was to get Siemens staff and contractors together, to identify, analyse and solve work-related problems associated with signalling work activities. This was the initial Safety Circle event, but a programme of these meetings has now been planned.

The idea of the Safety Circles is for a Siemens team leader to lead the meetings, rather than a manager or supervisor, en-couraging everyone to participate. The group will then present it’s solutions to the management team if they cannot implement these themselves.

Safety Circles are seen by Siemens as an effective way of improving the performance of the organisation and motivating employ-ees and contractors.

Topics for the attention of safety circles are not only those which will improve occu-pational safety and health, despite this being the number one priority for Siemens, but also those which will improve product de-sign, and improvement in the workplace processes. Within Siemens, this may also in-clude improvement in design and manufac-turing at its factories.

SAFETY BRIEFINGSThe day continued with a number of safety briefings, delivering the priorities outlined in the Network Rail Step Up for Safety map-ping document for Infrastructure Projects.

Although not mandatory on the Thameslink project, Siemens recognised these as priorities for their team, and ar-ranged to deliver presentations on the topics identified, which were:1. Musculoskeletal disorders 2. Lifting and handling 3. Energy wise and carbon smart 4. Operational Close Calls 5. Overhead and Underground Services

Ongoing works at XTD 45B Borough Market

A Close Call could be one step away from an accident.Action all close calls through the appropriate person, fix it there and then if you can but never put yourself at risk.

Complete a close call card or tell a Supervisor / Manager for the location.

See it. Fix it. Report it.

See it.Fix it.

Report it.One of the briefings taking place

WITH MUCH OF Thames-link’s works being carried out right next to operational railway, it is essential that all the right procedures are in place to make sure the works are undertaken as safely as possible.

Here is why… just a few of the ac-cidents in Europe where plant has come into contact with trains. l Kimstad, Sweden collision

between a train and excavator, 1 fatality 17 injured, Sept 2010

l Germany: collision between RRV and a train, 2 fatalities and 35 injured, 13th April 2012

l Switzerland: collision between a Kirow crane and a train, no injuries reported, July 2013

One of the most important proce-dures we have is ALO, but aside from the ALO co-ordinators on site who have had specific training, how much do the rest of us know about it?

Previously ALO meant “Adjacent Line Open”, but in recognition of the

Culture change at Siemens signals it’s not ‘business as usual’

ALO explained in simple terms

Derailment of train

ALO, ALO, ALO, WHAT’S ALL THIS THEN?

prevent the plant from fouling the open line.

For all operations the plant and / or its load must always be more than 300mm from the fouling point of any open line. For operations within 3 metres of the nearest open line, engineering controls are required as well as process controls.

The approved control system should be tested by the ALO Co-ordinator be-fore work starts. The ALO co-ordinator then makes sure the ALO plan is fol-lowed on site. If there are any changes on site (e.g. different plant delivered or different possession arrangements to those in the plan), it is the ALO co-ordi-nator’s responsibility to check the validi-ty of the ALO plan and if changes are re-quired, they must be approved by the ALO Responsible Manager.

The new Code of Practice and other guidance can be found on Safety Cen-tral which is available to everyone at: www.safety.networkrail.co.uk/On-site-Solutions/OTP-Safety/Adjacent-Line-Open-Working

potential to foul lines other than just the nearest, with the collapse radius of a crane for example, this was changed to “Any Line Open” and a new Code of Practice (COP0032 Issue 01) was re-leased in July 2015.

ALO planning must be undertaken and approved by an ALO Responsible Manager prior to works. A risk assess-ment is required to demonstrate whether plant at its maximum reach

(including load and attachments) can foul an open line, including in the event of human error.

Where an open line could potentially be fouled, works should be reviewed to see if the open lines can be blocked, works re-timed or alternative plant / methodology adopted. If none of these are possible, mitigation measures in the form of process controls and / or engi-neering controls, must be put in place.

PROCESS CONTROLS:l Banksman, fencing, Duplex

Comms, assurance checks, etc.

ENGINEERING CONTROLS:l High Performance

Movement Limiting Devices (MLD)

These are to be properly set up and switched on throughout the work. Where fitted with a locking system, this shall be secured such that the op-erator is not able to over-ride it.l Physical barriers

These must have the ability to

Side of trained swiped by plant

EXAMPLES OF IMPACT TYPES

CONSIDERED AND THEIR POTENTIAL

FOR DAMAGE

CLOSE CALLSWHO YOU GONNA CALL?

Various Close Call systems are in place on ThameslinkIT CAN SEEM like a minefield but it’s simple once you know.

Simply put, if it’s where you are working then you will most likely need to report it through Balfour Beatty, Costain or one of the other Contractors systems. If it’s on a public area of the station, track or on other Network Rail premises then you need to report it to Network Rail.

Article by Dave Sullivan (PC Monitor/POS Rep), Balfour Beatty & Sharon Fink, Health & Safety

NETWORK RAIL CLOSE CALL SYSTEMClose calls on Network Rail stations, offices or other parts of the infrastructure can be reported by calling 01908 723 500.

If you are a NR member of staff you can download the NR close call app onto your phone or tablet.

Remember!!! If you are on a contractors site, you should use their close call system.

COSTAINAt London Bridge, Costain have made it easier, sim-ply go on line at www.time2action.com

And you can report your close call on line. You will get an immediate reference number back and if you supply an email address you will get feedback direct to your phone.

There are also the cards still around site that can be completed too.

BALFOUR BEATTYA Text Service has been launched Text Service has been launched on the Thameslink KO2 Programme by BBR to make it easier for staff to raise their concerns.

Balfour Beatty have noted that not all staff are com-fortable filling in Close Call Cards with some still un-comfortable raising issues in person.

Balfour Beatty are giving another option to highlight concerns or ideas through the use of a text option.

The Close Call phone is held by the Safety Team who can then have a quick way of feeding back what has been done through the Text Service meaning we can effectively close the reporting circle.

07855 00213601908 723 500

Close Call Cards

Close Call Cards

www.time2action.com

Direct feedback to your phone if you supply an email address

76 APRIL/MAY 2016 ISSUE 16

4. Dave Sullivan (PC Monitor)

Q. Please give us an overview of what your job entails here at Thameslink.A. My work is a mixture of P.O.S activities, assisting, when required, in making sure that all machine movements are being made correctly and that all staff related to that works are doing so in the safest possible way.

My main role is being a conduit between the Safety team and the PC team, assisting in resolving outstanding issues as well as looking ahead to addressing any future risk raised by planned works.

Q. What is your input to making this site a safe place to work, for you and your mates?A. I have put together the latest Close Call Text service in which to create another op-tion for staff to report issues that they have witnessed more easily, more importantly to also send feedback on how their raised con-cern is being addressed.

I also perform site walks and have many safety conversations with staff on site as well as noting the good practices being per-formed throughout the site. I’m currently supporting a new initiative to launch Safety Champions who will further serve to resolve safety issues on site, empower colleagues to speak-up and escalate concerns as re-quired.

Q. What’s the most important safety aspect on site?A. Personnel Attitude, if everybody ap-proached site in the right frame of mind then accidents would be in serious decline. No short cuts, no PPE issues etc.

Q. If you could change one thing what would it be?A. Complacency, if we could rid the infra-structure of complacency then a lot of site issues regarding personal safety would be resolved overnight, something that we are working hard to achieve.

Q. If you could represent your country at one thing what would it be?A. I do like to sing quite badly so it would probably be having a bash at the Eurovision Song Contest, (I would probably fit in quite well with all of the other bad singers :)).

Article By: Chris Ottley,

Project Director & Joe Hagan, H&S Manager

Article by Joseph Hagan,

H&S Manager, Balfour Beatty

Balfour Beatty team use actors to tell it like it is!

THE SHARP

ENDSIGNALLING AND TRACK STAFF

DURING A RECENT visit to London Bridge area, signalling and track works on behalf of Network Rail (Thames-link), we took the opportunity to chat with a few of the workforce who are delivering the works.

We caught up with the following guys who work for Balfour Beatty Rail:

1. Steve Barham – Lift Planner / SSOW Planner2. Meik Jenson –Construction Rep3. Michael Bell – Senior Lift Planner / POS Rep4. Dave Sullivan – PC Monitor

Dave Sullivan (PC Monitor)

1. Steve Barham (Lift Planner / SSOW Planner)

Q. Please give us an overview of what your job entails here at ThameslinkA. My main job role is a Lift Planner which involves preparing the Crane Plans for the various machines for P-way and Civils on the K02 Project. I am also a SSOW planner and at the weekends my Duties are POS Rep. I also work as part of the P.C team preparing documentation for the core works every weekend.

Q. What is your input to making this site a safe place to work, for you and your mates?A. As the POS Representative, I have to make sure the plant is working in compli-ance with our Plant Operating Licence (POL) and also checking the competences of the Crane Controllers and operators. I am also a Safety Champion for the project.

Q. What’s the most important safety aspect on site?A. Everybody following the correct rules for the job they are doing. Everyone wear-ing the correct PPE. In addition to that it is essential that there is the correct paper-work for each job that is going on including Lift Plans/ALO Working/Task Briefings.

Q. If you could change one thing what would it be?A. A lot of people don’t have the right atti-tude on site towards safety so this is what I would change.

Q. If you could represent your country at one thing what would it be?A. Darts (I’ve been in some competitions e.g. British Open, Kent Open and some other big one’s but not quite made it ).

Steve Barham (Lift Planner / SSOW Planner)

3. Michael Bell (Senior Lift Planner / POS Rep)Q. Please give us an overview of what your job en-tails here at Thameslink.A. For the last three & a half years I have carried out the duties of Senior Lift Planner based at New Cross Gate for the KO2 Project Preparing Lift Plans, Liaising with Tack & Civil functions gathering Informa-tion Identifying Suitable Road Rail Vehicles (RRVs)creating the Crane /Machine Lift Plans as per Industry rules. I am also a Qualified Com-petency Assessor and actively assess our track operatives as part of the Sentinel scheme. I am a Qualified SSoW planner for the project. I work as part of the Principle Contactor (PC Team) and carry out duties of a (POS) Plant Operating Scheme during Possession working as a Balfour Beatty Representative on site auditing and checking compliance / competence as part of our Plant Operating Licence (POL).

Q. What is your input to making this site a safe place to work, for you and your mates?A. On site I like to give advice, being obser-vant looking for non-compliances setting up safe systems of work, checking Competencies and the correct use of PPE.

Q. What’s the most important safety aspect on site?A. Life Saving Rules Wearing the correct PPE for tasks being carried out.

Q. If you could change one thing what would it be?A. Standardise the wearing of hard hats as be-low: White Standard Normal Issue, Blue for PTS Probationers, Green for First Aiders, Yel-low for Engineering Supervisors so at a glance on site you can identify persons or groups of persons on site.

Q. If you could represent your country at one thing what would it be?A. Mentoring and coaching others in a Training and Assessment role.

2. Meik Jenson (Construction Manager / Appointed Person)

Q. Please give us an overview of what your job entails here at ThameslinkA. Planning, programming and Installation of new signal gantry structures, recovering old redundant signal structures and demolition works (redundant buildings) where required.

Q. What is your input to making this site a safe place to work, for you and your mates?A. I start with the WPP’s and programme for the works, when time is then I’m on site daily to ensure that all works happens as they should, if works changes then I give briefings and where we are excavating I’ll make sure that the excavations are safe before anyone enters the excavations (daily before and after works).

Q. What’s the most important safety aspect on site?A. Our ears, eyes, common sense and to a certain degree experience.

Q. If you could change one thing what would it be?A. Weather.

Q. If you could represent your country at one thing what would it be?A. Strange question but I would imagine that Archery would be my choice.

Michael Bell (Senior Lift Planner / POS Rep)

Meik Jenson (Construction Manager / Appointed Person)

AS SOMEONE WHO drives a desk and writes a lot, I come across many a witty anagram. For example, rearranging the letters of ‘HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE’ gives VALUE THY EXISTENCE, FATHEAD!

Now I’m not for one minute accusing the Health and Safety Executive of being a fathead, but sometimes an anagram can get you thinking about safety just as much as a Time2Talk. Ponder on these:

How about the next time you LISTEN to a safety brief you remain SILENT?

Or if you drink a pint of DRAFT GUINNESS you consider it a NAUGHTINESS DRUG!

The next time you use THE EYES please make sure THEY SEE.

Getting ready for your next shift, remember to set your SNOOZE ALARMS, so that there is ALAS-NO MORE Z’S.

The next time you drive in the ice, remember that DEATH, IT STARTS IN ICE and it most certainly is THE TITANIC DISASTER.

Nothing to do with health, but most certainly impacting upon wealth; a DEBIT CARD can often equal BAD CREDIT.

Of course you have many ACHIEVEMENTS; they are NICE, SAVE THEM.

You do not want to have a PRINCESS DIANA, as her END IS A CAR SPIN.

Where VOICES RANT ON, you often hear a CONVERSATION.

Be careful if you are an IPOD LOVER, as you could be end up a POOR DEVIL.

Boiling HOT WATER is most certainly WORTH TEA, but not if you spill it!

Think about T.S. ELLIOTT the next time you use the TOILETS. But if you consider yourself an ACTION MAN, remember they CANNOT AIM.

Enjoy THE COUNTRY SIDE as there is NO CITY DUST HERE.

And finally, keep safe because a FUNERAL is never REAL FUN.

The “Value thy Existence Fathead” anagram comes courtesy of Donald L. Holmes using Anagram Genius (1995) - http://www.anagramgenius.com/archive/health.html

The others all come from http://www.you-can-be-funny.com/Funny-Anagrams.html

IN OCTOBER 2015 the Thameslink Programme held a Supplier Conference and used an organisation called Dramanon to enact a work situation through scenarios that resulted in a significant injury.

The use of actors was something different and was well received by the audience (predominant-ly managers), as well as aligning with the 2016 BBR Objectives around Front Line Supervision empowerment. Our Partners Costain had also used it to good effect on London Bridge Station

Off the back of this BBR engaged Dramanon to develop a Workshop entitled ‘Safety Excellence’ for our front line supervision, but also including our Partners Siemens and Network Rail for alignment of behaviours and messages across the key frontline staff.

Dramanon Team who demonstrated safe choices and challenges faced in a typical worksite

MY THOUGHTS

ON….

Article by Bruce Sherring-Lucas, Programme

Engineering Manager, Network Rail

The first sessions were run on 24th Feb to 24 Front Line supervisors and site managers.

The feedback was better than expected: l “Really enjoyed the session this

afternoon”l “Having spoken to everyone who

attended the Drama session yesterday, had some really good feedback from all who attended.

l “It was enjoyable as far as H&S sessions go and could relate more to something like that”.

l “Many thanks for putting this together, I really enjoyed the event”

Feedback from Dramanon: l “Good involvement and the second

session really buzzed”.l “On occasions some of the supervisors

were so engaged with the actors (still in role) that there was tension in the air”.

l “The teams have bought into the safety culture”.

The next step through the SLT is to role this out to key front line supervision within the supply chain.

The half-day session also aimed to empower the supervision and influence behaviour in safety decisions and offer coaching

Chris Ottley and Joseph Hagan attended the rehearsals workshop to ensure the acted scenario was ‘realistic’, topical and relevant to the audience

CLASS ACT

8

WORDSEARCH

Any ideas or suggestions email sharon.fink@networkrail.co.ukEditor, Sharon Fink, Health & Safety Manager, Network Rail

OH YEAH, HIGH ENERGYAPRIL/MAY 2016

THE 61016 TEXT number offers the travelling public and rail staff a means to contact BTP di-rectly in an anonymous and subtle way,in order to report non-emergency crime.

WHEN TO USE THE TEXT SERVICE:Text 61016 (or call 0800 40 50 40) when you want to contact us about an issue that doesn’t require an emergency response. For example, you can text when:l You want to tell about an incident that has

already happenedl You want to tell us about issues affecting

your rail journey or your local stationl You have a general police enquiryl If your enquiry concerns buses or roads,

you can contact local police anywhere in the country by dialling 101.

REPORTING RAILWAY CRIMEWinter is over! A springtime wordsearch for you. 30 words are hidden

in the grid below words can appear forwards or backwards!

Daylight savingSafetyDivulgedAngle grinderTime to talkExtortBank holidayTicketsInspectionAlarmsEaster tidingsEU debateDaffodils

EpigraphLife savingSunshine glareColonisingSunglasses onSunscreenSpring lambGruellingNavigatingOuterwearSlippery tracksNightshiftOppositeKeeping safe

Dump The Diet and Eat Real Food

You may think the answer therefore is about the whole country going on a whopping diet and getting more exercise (certainly important).

Whilst other elements may be important, it may be argued that insulin and blood sugar management are a vital part of a healthy weight but how this might work in practice is a mys-tery to most dieters. Peo-ple needing to lose weight often try harder and hard-er in a system that is out to defeat them (e.g. low calo-rie treats that are plainly not good for the health or for maintaining the blood sugar – e.g. Malteser

sweets are 11 calories each but Maltesers, which are manufactured by Mars, contain 505 calories per 100g – a more relevant nu-tritional measure as people are unlikely to eat just one).

In explaining how to “play the food game” (where it actually starts to mean something and you can do something about it –the cal-orie argument seems to make sense, but only if you are a closed system like a boiler!) It’s less about going on a diet (restriction and re-bellion) but knowing how to actually make sense of the choices. Abide by these sim-ple rules (below) and you can start to make an impact not only on your waistline, your health but also perhaps safety at work too.1. Eat a good breakfast which will balance your blood sugar and energy levels2. Eat “real” food and plan this into your life and work3. Eat more vegetables than fruit, and make sure you have enough protein4. Make sure you are well hydrated5. Take enough exercise

Bonus Tip: Don’t watch your weight – watch your health! Concentrate on great quality food, cooked well. Watching the numbers all the time makes us ultimately rebel so that we don’t adopt changes long term into our lifestyles.

LOOKING AROUND YOU in your company, you might not think that obesi-ty applies to you or your company?… Does it?

You might know a few people who might be a bit over-weight and perhaps you could do with losing a few pounds yourself but is it really as bad as the statis-tics point out? Surely not.

The everyday cost of obe-sity is a huge, and growing problem. At work hours can be long, vending machines or canteens can be packed chocolate and other snacks that act as quick pick up….but they also drop the blood sugar (creating a surge of the hormone insulin which stores fat).

Even if you think you know what a so-called “healthy” diet looks like the truth is you probably don’t. You might know it’s about fresh fruit and veg but do you know what order to eat them in so that you main-tain sustained hormone (in-sulin) levels throughout the day?

At the very least the effects of being over-weight might be:l Lack of energy /

motivationl Unstable blood-sugar

causing avoidable accidents

l Tiredness/unhealthyl Poor self-esteem/

Unhappinessl Back and muscular

skeletal problems

And at the more serious end:l Type 2 diabetesl Certain Cancersl Heart disease

Being overweight some-times feels like nobody’s business except our own – isn’t it our choice? But the plain facts are that being overweight is probably one of the “side-effects of un-stable blood sugar.

It’s common for us to go to work without eating, and grab what comes to hand.

For one construction company I worked with, a crane-operator was trying to lose weight but just eat-

Wordsearch by Tim Witcomb,

Network Rail

ing one bowl of cereal a day. What this one sugary meal did was to spike his blood sugar (commercial cereal is just sugar really). When the blood sugar spikes there is a subsequent drop in blood sugar (what

goes up must come down!) – This leads to critical lapses in concentration. Not great in a safety critical role.

Once I corrected this guys diet by getting him to eat properly and regularly (de-spite the challenges of eat-ing in his cabin and not wanting to come down for proper breaks), he easily lost weight. Not only did he lose weight but he was able to inspire his wife and fami-ly to make changes. The whole outlook of the family dynamics also changed. Less weight, and more ener-gy to do things as a family in the evening and week-end.

So even if you think that obesity is not your problem, is it?

Kate Cook is a nutritionist who has worked with leading companies for 16 years to improve health through inspiring change in nutrition. Eating better, she believes, is not only better for individuals but for companies too. She has written 5 books including “The Corporate Wellness Bible” and has a clinic in Harley Street, London.

Kate will be giving us some advice on health and wellbeing. If you have any specific requests for ar-ticles that you’d like to see Kate cover contact sharon.fink@net-workrail.co.uk.