Think Safe, Work Safe, Home Safe – Make UK develop bespoke behavioural safety programme for BRUSH Group

With a history spanning over 145 years, BRUSH Group is a leading provider of agile and adaptive engineering solutions and products, including consultancy services, design and project management as well as award-winning product technology. 

Safety is well-managed across the BRUSH Group, with robust policies and procedures in place to keep people safe. Leadership is involved in safety and for many years, the business has used ‘Think Safe, Work Safe, Home Safe’ branding to communicate the importance of safety and promote their vision of Zero Harm.

While incidents are rare due to strict adherence to regulations, a survey indicated that, although levels of trust and employee engagement within the organisation were generally high, there was a perception in some areas of the business that risks needed to be taken to get the job done. Additionally, a review of Safety Improvement Opportunities (SIOs) showed that submissions were infrequent and often poor quality.

BRUSH recognised an opportunity to drive safety culture forward by empowering and motivating employees to actively contribute to safety improvements.  BRUSH approached Make UK and the two teams worked collaboratively on developing a behavioural safety programme designed to help employees identify unsafe behaviour and feel empowered to stop and report anything risky. By leveraging Make UK’s knowledge and experience in safety culture change and by working closely with BRUSH, the combined team were able to develop a relevant and compelling workshop.

A pilot was delivered in November 2023 attended by a significant proportion of the BRUSH executive board, including both the CEO and COO. The success of the pilot led to sign-off of the programme being rolled-out across the organisation.

Lee Hamilton, Environment, Health and Safety Delivery Manager at Make UK, led the development of the bespoke 1-day programme incorporated BRUSH values and messaging, including the ‘Think Safe, Work Safe, Home Safe’ mindset, and included real-life examples, such as photographic evidence of hazards from BRUSH premises. Additionally, the BRUSH Group CEO wrote the programme introduction, which was included at the start of the Learner Workbook, and reiterated the organisation’s commitment to safety.

Neil Roberts, Senior Learning Delivery Consultant at Make UK, and behavioural safety specialist said: It was tremendous to be involved in BRUSH’s commitment to supporting the Think Safe, Work Safe, Home Safe programme. The objective was to deliver a specifically designed, interesting, and engaging workshop to different levels of the workforce. The workshop covered various topics aimed at driving the safety culture forward with an enthusiasm for effort and pride in performance.

The programme incorporated engaging presentation and interactive activities to blend theory with practical examples and scenarios. Exercises and quizzes engaged employees whilst group discussions fostered collaboration and idea exchange.

The aim was to deliver the workshops to 80%of the workforce during the first quarter of 2024. This target was exceeded with 90% trained between January and March. With just 10% of employees now left to complete the workshop, ‘Train the Trainer’ sessions are being organised to equip BRUSH with the confidence, competence, and tools necessary to effectively train others, thereby creating a ripple effect of knowledge and expectations to maintain consistency.

Paul Lowe, Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE) Manager at BRUSH Group has seen an increase in the quality of SIOs following the workshops. Employees, empowered by a newfound awareness and encouraged by management support, are actively identifying, and reporting potential hazards or near-misses. Thishighlights the growing commitment to hazard spotting and risk prevention but also serve as a catalyst for continuous safety improvement initiatives.