First ScotRail
As the company running Scotland’s national rail franchise, health and safety has got to be the top priority for First ScotRail. Yet while keeping staff and passengers safe is paramount, improving the health and well-being of staff is also a key goal.
The desire to improve health in the workplace was the driving force behind First ScotRail’s decision to sign up for the Healthy Working Lives Award Programme.
Promoting staff health and well-being is certainly a challenge for a company that employs 4200 staff who not only perform a diverse range of roles but are also scattered all over Scotland.
With trains running out of literally hundreds of stations, many employees are working shifts, including through the night on sleeper services.
HR admin manager Margaret Fletcher says the company has staff working various shifts, 24 hours a day. “You have got the sleeper service, people cleaning stations, and control and the engineering side, and depots where they’re cleaning and fuelling trains,” she says. “So we do have a number of staff that work nights.”
Shift workers are just one of the groups that the company’s occupational health adviser, Nicola MacPherson, has been trying to support through recent efforts to promote healthier eating, adds Margaret.
“Our industry has a lot of shift workers so people possibly aren’t eating properly or sleeping properly,” she says. “Instead of people going to the chip shop, we have been looking to introduce options such as vending machines where people can get more healthy snacks, like sandwiches or yoghurts.”
The company has also been stepping up efforts to introduce staff to new sporting activities, says Margaret. “We’ve been encouraging people to get involved in sport, from basketball to netball tournaments. There is as much exercise as you want.”
Margaret has been taking part in a healthier working plan, designed to target advice to the individual needs of employees. “Nicola gave us a card asking us what we would like to achieve, so she is helping to coach people,” she explains.
“I am doing a healthy working plan where I write down what time I go to bed, when I rise, what I’m eating and what my activities are. Then she’ll take that away and have a look at it, and give me advice. I am still half-way through, but obviously when you are writing it down it makes you more aware of what you’re doing as well – like not getting to bed early enough, and not exercising enough!”
When so many First ScotRail employees are dealing with the public, work can occasionally be stressful, so the company has a number of measures in place to support them.
More than £1 million a year is spent on staff training so that all employees are fully aware of ways to deal with potentially stressful situations. There is also a BUPA advice team in place to provide support if they need it.
To improve staff well-being, Nicola has arranged for massage therapists to visit the workplace, which Margaret says staff particularly enjoy. “She gets them to go round all the different locations so that most of the staff can benefit as well,” she adds.
Since First ScotRail started working on the Healthy Working Lives Award Programme, Margaret says staff are positive about efforts to improve health in the workplace.
“There is quite a lot of enthusiasm, and staff are all quite keen to take part in the activities,” she says. “It helps build up team spirit as well.”
Margaret, whose career started with British Rail 28 years ago, adds that working life has certainly improved since the old days. “I am old BR, so I’m a dinosaur,” she laughs. “I would say there have been big changes – it’s a lot more professional and there is a lot more support.”
