DESCRIPTION
Hanson Cement’s Ribblesdale works has introduced a new element to the works’ health and safety ethos and in the process has coined a new phrase – ‘Apprentices Safety Rep’.
As part of an initiative run by Training 2000 to raise awareness of health and safety issues at work, an apprentice delivered a very powerful presentation to colleagues at Ribblesdale works.
The apprentices brought a fresh approach and a new attitude to safety at Ribblesdale and both the apprentice presenter and the works manager at Ribblesdale were invited to represent young people at the works as ‘Apprentices’ Safety Reps’. They joined the main works safety committee and became involved in the various tasks undertaken by other Reps.
BENFITS
The appointment of the Apprentices’ Safety Reps has been so successful that the stereotypical image of the young employee as an additional risk burden has changed into a genuinely important and effective safety asset for the business. Ribblesdale’s engineering manager confirms that the level of trust the whole workforce has developed in the apprentices cannot be better demonstrated than by the fact that the original apprentice has recently delivered the first module of the electrical isolation training to the whole workforce.
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