When we set ourselves the objective of creating a safer working culture we knew we’d need to invest time and money. As part of our key pillar of Assured and Safe Delivery, we also knew we’d have to consciously build the culture we wanted. And, like any construction project, you must have the right tools and processes in place.
This thinking helped shape the design and development of our award-winning cultural development programme, STOPThink!
Building a Safety Culture
We decided that policies and procedures didn’t go far enough. We needed to build a culture that made awareness of always working safely so ingrained in people’s minds that they make the safe choice on every occasion.
Launched as a concept in 2011, STOPThink! has enabled colleagues, suppliers and customers to think differently, make better decisions and change lives. Admired throughout our industry, we know that STOPThink! works and really sets us apart from our peers. It’s part of the DNA of Octavius.
So far we’ve invested over £1 million. Over 2,000 of our employees, customers and suppliers have attended awareness sessions. Our cascade briefing now reaches more than a thousand people across the industry each month.
Time to Think
The name of the programme reflects the fact that so many safety incidents happen ‘in the moment’ with a momentary lapse of judgement. It also stresses why it’s so important to pause for a final check for every project plan and work instruction: is this safe or is there a better, risk-free way to achieve the objective?
Has the programme made a difference? Our safety statistics are at an all-time low. National Highways and Network Rail have asked us to help roll the programme out across parts of their organisations. It has also been delivered to a county police force and school students.
During the Covid pandemic we switched many of the learning and awareness modules to online and more are to follow. This kept the programme running and is helping us to bring it to a far wider community of organisations that want to embed a safety culture.
Octavius are pleased to be presenting sponsors of the VIP lounge at the upcoming Safer Highways Live event on the 29th September, where we’ll be detailing more information about our STOPThink! initiative.
In the meantime, to learn more about our approach to project delivery visit our Transport Infrastructure Resource Centre or contact us by email at hello@octaviusinfrastructure.co.uk.
