WHY WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO SHOW LEADERSHIP ON HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING When it comes to health, safety and wellbeing there is a huge difference between playing lip service because you feel you have to and actually showing leadership from the top.
By Peter Anderson Managing Director, Amey Transportation
Amey’s Transport Infrastructure business, which includes highways, waste, power and rail, has been doing the latter for some years now. There have been a number of initiatives that have been implemented both internally and externally and many have been more successful than the company would have imagined. Its Jamie Talks series of wellbeing podcasts, for example, originally started with an internal focus have been listened to by hundreds of people in the highways sector, many of who don’t even work for Amey. It proves it, doesn’t it, get health, safety and wellbeing right and its reach can be phenomenal. But it doesn’t stop there. If you go on to the Amey website and search for ‘health, safety and wellbeing’ there are several examples of the work that has gone on across the whole Amey business. From gold awards for performance to wellbeing self-scoring systems to behavioural safety, it is clear all of this comes from the fact that health, safety and wellbeing is top of the agenda more often than not in the boardroom, which flows through the rest of the business. There has also been a change of leadership recently. Peter Anderson joined the business last July as Managing Director of Transport Infrastructure bringing with him 30 years-experience of the construction industry. Responsible for over 4,500 people, Peter’s
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team were identified as key workers throughout the pandemic, continuing to deliver essential rail and highways maintenance to keep people moving, providing clean, tidy and accessible spaces for local communities and maintaining critical power supplies to homes. Joining Amey during the pandemic has also further highlighted the need for the company to do even more in terms of wellbeing. Mr Anderson is known for his commitment to progressing employee health, safety and wellbeing, driving improvements to safe working practices and ensuring a culture where people feel free to share honestly and take action to make changes. Open in his support of developing and leading safety initiatives for the benefit of others, he influences the wider industry, particularly in his previous role as Chair of a Rail Safety Leadership Group which targeted safety improvements on overhead line works. It’s clear a change in leadership hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm to drive further health and safety initiatives. In fact, given his track record and passion, Mr Anderson could well take it to another level. In fact, he says, health and safety plays a fundamental role when developing any long-term strategy in Amey.
www.saferhighways.co.uk
