好色先生TV

Contractor May Gurney has reduced the number of accidents on its sites by almost two-thirds by introducing a training scheme based on behavioural change. To improve health and safety, staff have been encouraged to change their ingrained habits and look after each other better. This innovative concept was rewarded by the Best 好色先生TV Contractor鈥檚 Safety Initiative prize at this year鈥檚 Health and Safety Awards.

The programme was launched in April last year when May Gurney found out that nine out of 10 accidents could be attributed to employees鈥� behaviour, according to Emma Barratt, the firm鈥檚 senior business improvement, safety, health and environment adviser.

Barratt, whose background is in human resources, contributed to devising the behavioural safety system called Making A Difference (MAD) and co-ordinated its roll-out among the 3000 staff nationwide. 鈥淭he main idea was to give a positive briefing,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 say, 鈥榙on鈥檛 do this or that鈥� but instead 鈥榯ry to do things differently鈥�.鈥�

Passing the knowledge on

Before setting up the project, the contractor sought advice from training consultants and found that the most effective training schemes are provided in-house rather than by external trainers. This meant that a certain number of staff had to be trained to coach their colleagues.

About 150 May Gurney front-line managers attended a three-day long awareness training to set up the objectives and methods for MAD. Fifty people volunteered to become coaches and were given one week鈥檚 training. Their responsibilities within the company vary from frontline managers to safety advisers and .

Barratt says a coach鈥檚 personality was more important than their job title. 鈥淚t was who they were that mattered. The person we wanted to be a coach had to be enthusiastic and believe in the concept of MAD. We couldn鈥檛 have someone who would see it as just another initiative,鈥� she says.

The programme includes a module on how the mind works to improve reactions to potential safety hazards. For example, it is important to find out when in the day people are most likely to slip into a daydream state. 鈥淲e are not saying that it鈥檚 causing accidents, but we expect people to become aware of this to react more quickly,鈥� says Barratt.

And that鈥檚 where the idea of looking after your colleagues comes in. Through MAD, May Gurney intends to 鈥済et some family core values into the business鈥�. In other words, hark back to a time when it was easier to care for colleagues within small family-run businesses 鈥� but do this on a much larger scale. 鈥淥ur idea is that if we start being nice to one another, it will have an impact on the working environment,鈥� says Barratt. The company has introduced what it calls 鈥渁 smile culture鈥� whereby staff are encouraged to greet, thank and speak to one another.

Another module covers bad habits such as lifting heavy loads in the wrong way. The company tries to raise awareness about the risks involved in repeating the same mistakes again and again. Barratt says May Gurney adopted a lead-by-example approach. 鈥淲e think that if people behave in the right way, others will copy,鈥� she says.

Ideas that work, at work and home

So far, these ideas have been proven right.

The company has noticed a 65% drop in accidents and an improvement in the quality of production and teamwork. Barratt says MAD has even changed some of her bad health and safety habits at home.

As for getting feedback from the staff, the traditional appraisal form has been ruled out. The success of this paperless project is rated through smiley face stickers. May Gurney has set up a board in staff lobbies to measure employees鈥� mood. A smiley face if they think everything is running smoothly, an upside down face for low morale.

鈥淚nstead of asking people to fill forms, we ask them directly,鈥� says Barratt. 鈥淚t is on site that we want people to be responding. At the moment, we see MAD is working.鈥�