Allied Bakeries and Molson Coors are among the first companies to agree to share their health and safety culture change journey with the IOSH Food and Drink Industries Group, in a series of site-based workshops around the country.
The Group launched the project after identifying the need for practical advice on health and safety culture change specific to the food and drink industry. By providing a platform for companies to share their experience of culture change, the Group is giving them insight into best practice and a benchmark for their own culture change activities.
“We feel that seeing how some companies have overcome issues and had success in improving safety culture will enable others to improve safety culture in their own business,” said Pamela Brown, a committee member of the Group.
‘Very excited’
“We are very excited about the workshops and hope delegates will take away new ideas and solutions to improve long-term safety performance in their own organisation.”
Allied Bakeries recently hosted IOSH Food and Drink Industries Group members at its production site in Stockport as part of the initiative (see picture). Allied Bakeries is one of three operating companies, which make up Allied Milling and Baking in the Grocery division of Associated British Foods.
Jak Thomas, national health and safety manager for Allied Milling and Baking and IOSH Food and Drink Industries Group committee member, said efforts over more than a decade to improve the workplace and engage employees in health and safety have resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of accidents and RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995) reports at its sites across the UK.
This change in culture has enabled Allied Bakeries to achieve a 40% reduction in total accidents, from 769 in 2007/08 to 460 in 2014/15. Over the same period, the number of RIDDOR cases fell 75% from 76 to 19, while lost-time injury accidents came down 80% from 127 to 26.
The introduction of the so called ‘Safety First’ initiative and related mission and vision in 2005 marked the beginning of the company’s journey. “The original Safety First mission was for us to become the safest millers and bakers in the UK, with the vision of creating an interdependent culture where people look after themselves and others while they are at work,” said Thomas.
‘Gauge perceptions’
“We benchmarked ourselves against other food companies and tracked progress against historical health and safety key performance indicators. We used the Health and Safety Executive’s climate assessment tool and included health and safety in employee surveys to gauge perceptions of health and safety in the business.
“We introduced leading indicators such as completion of workplace inspections and priority risk audits for measuring line manager involvement.”
This work was underpinned with a continuing health and safety communications and training programme, which included DVD-based accident case studies.