GB Railfreight (GBR) has launched a Work Safe = Home Safe campaign to improve its safety culture and encourage staff to keep safety at the forefront of every decision they make.

The campaign will show how the company’s investments, innovations, and improvements all contribute to making GBRf a safer place to work.

It will also highlight how GBRf colleagues work to make local communities aware of staying safe around the railway, and educate young people about the dangers around the railway.

Although it is recognised that no single solution can improve safety, the campaign shows how continual improvement and small changes can make a significant difference.

GBRf was established 25 years ago, and has invested over £22m since 2020 in many initiatives to improve safety, wellbeing and working conditions for colleagues, including:

• Safer walking routes across operational sites;
• Better lighting at key locations;
• Installing new switch stands;
• Upgrading welfare and staff facilities;
• Installing air conditioning in the driving cabs of all Class 66 and 69 locomotives;
• Trialling new safety equipment and technologies, such as improved gloves and sanding systems:
• Introducing its new Class 99 locomotives, which have significant safety improvements and modern design features;
• Building a new locomotive maintenance facility at Tonbridge to reduce the road and rail mileage needed to maintain the company’s 150 locomotives;
• Building a state-of-the-art wagon maintenance facility at Peterborough, which incorporates a condition-based monitoring model to reduce downtime and improve reliability, as well as having safety benefits.

The Work Safe = Home Safe campaign is based around the recognition that, with every colleague having family, friends, and loved ones waiting for them at the end of their working day, nothing is more important than ensuring they return home safely after every shift.

GB Railfreight is one of the railway companies supporting the Rail Safe Friendly education programme being delivered to 150 UK schools; another organisation taking part is the rail delivery consultancy SLC.

“As we celebrate 25 years of GB Railfreight and reflect on how far we’ve come as a business, there is one thing that matters more than any commercial success, operational achievement or growth milestone – the safety of our people. Every person who works for GBRf has people who care about them and who expect them to return home safely at the end of every shift. We have a responsibility to them, to their families and to the wider railway community. Work Safe = Home Safe is to remind us all that safety is never finished. There is always more we can do, and often it is the small improvements and the everyday decisions that have the biggest impact. Because at the end of the day, nothing is more important than making sure we all get home safely.”

John Smith OBE, Chief Executive Officer, GB Railfreight