Most of us who travel by train will never abuse, threaten or assault those who work on the railways. However, as in other service industries, railway employees are subject to very real risks of violence and aggression on a regular basis as Nicole Vazquez explains.
Managing the risks of work-related violence and aggression is never straightforward and where employees interact with the general public in potential conflict situations such as revenue protection or rule enforcement, it can become even more challenging. In a 2010 report, Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate cited work-related violence as one of the top five health and safety risks to railway workers.1
Train operating companies cannot afford to ignore these statistics. For organisations, incidents can lead to lost time, increased costs, reduced staff morale and potential prosecution or litigation. For employees, the effects of an incident can be both physical and psychological, and can have a profound impact on their health and wellbeing.
In response, the rail industry has been working hard to resolve these issues, looking at ways to reduce the risks and to provide support for those employees affected. The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) set up the Rail Personal Security Group (RPSG), a cross-industry group, in order to raise the profile of personal safety and security issues, commission national campaigns and encourage the sharing of best practice within the industry.
Paula Durrans, head of security at First Great Western (FGW), is a member of the RPSG. In 2009, she started to look at how the train company could develop a more effective, cohesive approach to managing the risks to front-line staff. FGW approached Worthwhile Training (WT) early on to assist with the project, as the company has previously worked with the RSSB, London Overground Rail Operations Ltd, Virgin Trains and other train operating companies to implement safer working practices and develop policies and training programmes.
Clear and achievable outcomes
The project was given a clear goal: to reduce the amount of conflict and the number of violent/aggressive incidents.
Measurable targets were created on which FGW and WT would collaborate:
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Improve understanding of the risks faced by frontline staff. Risk assessments at the time were not ‘owned’ by the people involved in the tasks. To ensure that the assessments reflected reality their insight and input was required.
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Create a clear and effective set of policies and procedures. All associated paperwork had to be accessible and workable for frontline staff and managers.
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Identify and implement risk control measures alongside the health and safety department. The network covered by FGW is vast and varied so a consistent and proportionate approach to risk control needed to be ensured.
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Design a suite of relevant and effective training workshops. Everyone who was public-facing, or who managed those that were, required some form of training. Key principles and messages needed to be delivered in a way that would be relevant and appropriate to different teams.
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Implement an effective reporting and investigation procedure. The existing reporting system highlighted some hotspots for incidents within the business and identified patterns, but it was not being used to understand ‘why’ this was happening. FGW required a revised system that would be used consistently in order to provide meaningful data for evaluation.
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Provide appropriate support to staff affected by incidents. When staff were involved in incidents it would be vital to ensure that they received appropriate support to assist them in returning to work and lessening any long-term effects.
A collaborative approach
Once the framework for the project was in place it was important to establish how it was going to be delivered.
The latest statistics from the RSSB show that railway workers most at risk from assaults are those who have the most contact with passengers and members of the public. Previous experience from working within the railways and other sectors shows that frontline staff hold vital information about the risks and so would be able to share ideas on how to overcome the issues. Therefore, engagement in the early stages would be paramount.
It was also necessary to ensure endorsement and commitment from the senior management team. Senior management had to see the business benefits of the project. Without the managers’ commitment the project was in danger of being ambushed at a later stage by someone coming in with a different idea or priority.
Getting buy-in from middle management was essential, to ensure the project’s promotion from those that have regular contact with front-line staff and lead by example. It is often the middle tier of any organisation that can hinder implementation; this can be through lack of understanding or resistance to change.
The entire ethos and approach had to be embedded within the organisation, in order to ensure ownership and find ways to keep the message on the agenda and fresh in people’s minds.
The delivery
In mid-2009 the project began with a series of focus groups. A cross-section of front-line staff and managers were invited to discuss their experiences and concerns. The groups identified risk factors that previously had not been recorded, shared informal control measures that were already in place, and discussed areas where they felt more help and support was needed.
‘Appreciative enquiry’ techniques were used to ensure they focused on the positives and shared ideas of how situations could be improved. The information gathered helped to inform the control measures that were put in place and the training programme that was developed. Perhaps even more crucially, by soliciting experiences and advice at this early stage, the initiative began to foster an environment of ownership (and found the project a few champions); staff knew their ideas and concerns were being taken through to the next stage.
WT’s proposal set out the expected outcomes and some recommendations as to how they could be achieved. Instead of presenting a written proposal, a day-long workshop for senior managers, HR and health and safety departments was held.
At this event, feedback from the focus groups and an analysis of the existing policies and practices were reported.
Then, instead of telling FGW what they should do, suggestions were shared and senior managers were invited to add their own ideas.
The real success of this day was measured as the project went on, with senior managers actively supporting and endorsing the training.
The next step was to revitalise the policies and procedures for managing personal safety and security. One of the key points that came up in the focus groups was confusion over the existing protocols.
A new FGW violence at work policy document was designed and sent out to every member of staff, delivered to their home address. Its layout was simple, colourful and appealing, the content relevant, clear and concise. It set out:
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clear definitions of terms such as abuse, threat, and assault and a commitment that FGW would not accept this behaviour as the norm and part of doing the job;
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what the policy meant to employees – where to get help, how to report and get support;
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simple strategies to help avoid conflict or deal with difficult situations; and
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emergency procedures – including duress codes and how to get assistance from the British Transport Police.2
Alongside this document a new personal security investigation procedure was implemented. This reporting procedure was much simpler to complete and more accessible to frontline staff. Every incident would be thoroughly investigated and the root cause and all influencing factors identified. By gaining an understanding as to how an incident had occurred, FGW could then determine the follow up action required and implement any changes that might be needed.
The first round of delivery and a core element of the project was the training for ‘frontline’ managers, which Paula Durrans said was an integral part of the entire process.
“Managers fully understood our new violence at work policy, their role in delivering this policy and more importantly the skills that they would need to support and identify ‘risk factors’ for our customer-facing teams,” she reported back.
“The training was incredibly successful and the management team benefited from having a confident understanding of the overall strategy to reduce conflict in the workplace.”
To help ensure that the core training became embedded in the organisation, a range of workshops were developed – ‘conflict avoidance’ for induction and ‘conflict management’ for staff in customer-facing roles – that could be facilitated by FGW professional trainers and peer trainers. A ‘train the trainers’ course provided them with the underpinning knowledge and practical experience needed to deliver the material and facilitate the groups in an effective way. These courses are now accepted as the minimum training requirements for all customer-facing teams at FGW.
Some teams had been identified as higher risk due to their role and the challenges they faced. Post-incident investigations also recognised that there were some individuals whose behaviour may have had a detrimental impact on the outcome of incidents. For these teams and individuals, a different approach was applied, delivering an interactive ‘forum theatre’ style workshop that explored the causes of conflict and the impact of their own attitude and actions.
3 It provided a challenging experience and saw individuals work together pro-actively with opportunities to offer and receive feedback from peers. These workshops have received excellent feedback and in many cases managers have commented that members of staff have exhibited positive changes in behaviour.
For those who have been involved in incidents there is an opportunity to attend a support workshop. Incidents can change people’s behaviour; some feel fearful and others may overcompensate and act as the aggressor in conflict situations. This workshop offers a supportive environment for staff to examine their responses to incidents. The primary aim of the workshop is to provide practical coping strategies to enable the individual to return to work as a productive member of the team.
Outcomes
So far, statistics tell FGW that the key principles are working, says Paula Durrans. “The amount of reporting has increased overall so FGW can get a clearer picture of what is happening on the front-line and staff can receive support when it’s needed,” she says. “The severity of incidents reported has reduced, indicating that incidents are being managed better, both by staff and managers, resulting in a reduction of 19 per cent year-on-year in severe assaults, and a marked reduction in lost time.”
Although it is more difficult to quantify, how staff feel and act is also of great importance. Managers are the eyes and ears on the ground and they report back that in many cases employees have changed their attitude and behaviour in subtle but important ways, and are now more able to reduce conflict and to avoid or defuse aggression. Management also report that after incidents it is easier to handle feedback and that staff communicate their concerns using the common language shared through the training experience.
“It is vital before embarking on any risk management programme that you spend the time putting together a cohesive strategy,” says Paula Durrans, reflecting on FGW’s learning experience.
“A programme is needed that addresses all of the influencing factors associated with conflict in the workplace and engages everyone that is affected to really make a difference.”
References
1. Report by the Office of Rail Regulation – Risk Profile Topic Strategy for Railway Worker Safety 2009-10.
2. First Great Western have specific words/phrases that can be used to call for assistance without alerting either the aggressor or other passengers.
3. Forum theatre was developed by Brazilian theatre director Augusto Boal. It is widely used in behavioural change training.
Nicole Vazquez is a training consultant and runs Worthwhile Training
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