Making colleagues more alert to risk

Southeastern is responsible for 640,000 passenger journeys a day – safety is its top priority. The rail company wanted its 4,500 people to feel empowered to create a proactive safety culture, a place where everyone, regardless of role or location, can identify unsafe situations and take action to prevent accidents.

Southeastern began by consulting colleagues to develop a set of five recognisable safety ‘behaviours’. We developed these into the acronym ‘ALERT’ and – as briefed – crafted a visual concept that covered the serious subject in a fun way. Animated character and Southeastern Safety Ambassador ‘Alert Bert’ became an accessible hook for the campaign, featuring in materials including a leader video and safety handbook, and cut-outs touring the network to encourage more safety discussions.

In a survey following the campaign’s launch, colleagues said that they’d become more safety conscious. This included feeling more strongly about reporting anything unsafe (+9%) and being more prepared to set a good safety example to others (+9%).

Inspired by the campaign, Southeastern’s Engineering division has since requested that we roll out the concept to safety signage at all its sites.