Simon Jack learns how Motor Transport's Safety in Operation Award winner - Multi-Serv Logistics- has considerably improved margins by developing new safety practices. Running a safe operation is about far more than merely meeting legal requirements. Instead, as steel products haulier MultiServ Logistics has proved, safety needs to be included in all activities and concern all members of staff from the top down. The company, which won the Safety in Operation category at the 2006 Motor Transport
Awards, decided in 2002 to make a major effort to improve in this area and has continued its efforts ever since. Back then its lost-time accident rate was 34.9 per million man-hours worked, a figure that had fallen to 6.3 in 2005 and by September of this year was 1.4.
Roger Boughton, the company's managing director, says: "Our figure was well within the legal requirements and not untypical of our industry. But we didn't want to just to accept the norm, we wanted to do something far more than that." As well as the compelling moral arguments for improving safety it has also had a commercial benefit, despite the extra investment in time and money, and has helped the company's operating margin grow by 5.5% year-on-year since 2004. Boughton believes that in order to achieve success with safety it is necessary for the highest levels of management to show commitment to it. "To create awareness you have to set the example and lead from the top. Otherwise it is impossible to expect
staff to buy into the idea," he says.
As a result, every formal management meeting has safety as the first point on the agenda, as does every meeting with major customers. Boughton spends more than half his time dealing with safety-related issues and the company deems safety too important in every manager's remit to have a specific safety manager. "In effect, I'm the safety manager of the company," Boughton says. MultiServ Logistics is part of the MultiServ Group, a subsidiary of the US-based Harsco Corporation. It transports more than 3.5 million tonnes of steel each year within the UK, operates 175 vehicles and employs 280 drivers. Much of the work involves moving large coils of steel and, as well as road-based hazards, potential injuries can come from tripping while working at height on trailers or from sharp edges on the products.
The efforts that started in 2002 were part of MultiServ Group's corporate safety initiative called SafeGuard. This is a programme of safety principles covering all employees and includes documented safe working instructions for each process undertaken and each environment in which the work takes place. Training has played a key part in improving standards and MultiServ Logistics invested in three full-time trainers in 2005. All staff undergo regular training in practices directly relevant to their area of work but the programmes also aim to ensure that each member of staff understands the role of their team and how it might impact on other processes.
The company has produced a DVD called Safe Steel Driver intended to provide easy-to-follow modules and clear reminders of what is expected from staff. The consequences of poor safety are highlighted, including showing the aftermath of accidents and reconstructions of typical accident scenarios. The DVD cost £35,000 to produce but Boughton says that it - along with the other safety measures - has been money well spent. "The returns are far, far greater in terms of less down time, lower insurance claims, fewer replacement vehicles and a decreased need for agency staff," he says. Each driver follows a strict induction and reappraisal programme and carries a 'Passport to Safety'. This is a booklet containing identity and training details to show what has been achieved and allows customers to understand MultiServ's commitment to safety.
Once a year all staff attend Safety Awareness Days set up in the depots. During these events the depot's deliveries cease for a day while Boughton and other managers discuss safety issues with staff. The events are intended to promote open discussion and invitations are given out to customers, sub-contractors and even competitors. "They are intended to be interactive and challenge the way people do things and encourage them to change. We did a complete programme of them around the depots both last year and this year, and the same will happen next year," Boughton explains. Communication of the safety message is spread through a Safety Battle Bus which visits depots and there is a sticker campaign encouraging staff to 'Say Yes to Safety'. In addition, the company has launched a Safety Bulletin & Newsletter and safety alerts are issued if a specific problem comes to light - one example was when a fatality occurred within the industry due to a parking brake being left off.
One of the most important aspects of improving safety is to pre-empt future accidents and, to enable this to happen, all employees are given a near miss/observation report pad. If they see anything unsafe they can report it - anonymously if they wish - and, to create an open atmosphere, the company has a policy of never undertaking disciplinary action on the basis of a near miss. The reports then form part of a near miss database used to identify potential problems. MultiServ works collaboratively with its customers to increase safety, where possible. However, it is also sometimes necessary to raise issues that customers may not be addressing, as Boughton explains. "If a driver sees something they feel is unsafe they will report it to their traffic office who will take it up diplomatically with the customer," he says.
If a major risk is identified at a loading or unloading point MultiServ will refuse to deliver there until the cause of the danger - for instance inadequate steps and rails up to a loading bay - has been removed or rectified. Despite its successes MultiServ each year creates a Safety Improvement Plan which defines the key areas where it thinks it can perform even better. As well as being desirable in its own right, this kind of approach helps motivate staff and improve industrial relations, Boughton believes. "We have gone from strength to strength in that area and our efforts have aided driver retention and recruitment - people have seen what we do and word gets around," he says.
MultiServ Logistics believes that the design of vehicles is very much part of the safety effort. The company will not consider trailers unless they have a flat cat-walk and it specifies that each vehicle must have a hand-brake alarm - Boughton believes that more manufacturers should include safety features such as these as standard. Vehicles in the MultiServ fleet are modified further in order to reduce the risks. Trailers have yellow lines around their perimeter to make the edge more visible and manual overrides are disconnected on the 90% of the fleet which is automatic.
Because of the need for drivers to work on trailer decks they wear full personal protective equipment (PPE). This includes hard hats, high visibility clothing with sleeves and protective footwear. Where necessary this has been adapted to MultiServ's needs. For example, the straps used to keep the hard hats in place have been redesigned in bright yellow and are made from a soft material. "They are more comfortable and it is easy to see whether or not people are wearing them," Boughton says.
After 11 years at MultiServ Logistics managing director Roger Boughton is to stand down at the end of the year. However, he will continue to contribute to safety improvements - as well as general supply chain efficiency - by taking part in key industry events and research programmes. Boughton has been in logistics for 30 years after a background in engineering in the automotive sector. He is involved with a number of industry bodies including the National Association of Steel Stockholders' safety committee and the West Midlands Business Transport Group which contributes to the debate over transport issues and strategy. Boughton has given safety presentations to traffic commissioners and believes that a great deal of progress with safety could be made by different parts of industry working together. "I would like to see everyone upping their game because you cannot go wrong with safety."
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