With this week being designated as Rail Safety Week, an Occupational Safety Risk Manager at Govia Thameslink Railway explains what rail safety means to her.
Chrissie Hinken is aged 33 and heads a team of four Occupational Safety Risk Specialists at Govia Thameslink Railway.
She became interested in Health and Safety when she was a teenager, and was originally employed in the construction industry.
Five years ago, Chrissie decided she wanted to take her career in Health and Safety in a new direction and joined the rail industry in 2019.
She lives in Essex and works with the wider safety team at Govia Thameslink Railway to ensure everyone gets home safely every day. With 12 years of experience as Occupational Safety Risk Manager, Chrissie shares her story for Rail Safety Week.
To coincide with last year’s Rail Safety Week, Govia Thameslink Railway released a new version of the children’s song Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes called Keep off the Track, which promotes safety on the railway by reminding passengers to keep hold of their belongings when getting on and off of trains.
Govia Thameslink Railway has a collaborative agreement with the British Transport Police to improve safety and security standards across the company’s network.
Before I joined the railway, I worked at a construction company, which was great experience because I learnt how to work in a fast-paced environment and deliver projects with scarce resource. Although the job challenged me, I wanted to broaden my experience in a new high-risk industry and stretch myself professionally.
When I was 16, with my dad’s help, I lined myself up for some work experience at a construction firm in London and got my first taste of working in Health and Safety. I really enjoyed my time there learning how to promote and protect people from harm and from then, I wanted to build a career in Health and Safety. I also like that there’s always something new to learn, and ultimately it is a highly rewarding profession which supports the physical and mental wellbeing of my colleagues and customers!
At GTR, I’m responsible for a range of things in Occupational Safety. I am the fire lead for the business, I identify potential hazards, developing and implementing a robust fire management system to mitigate the risks. I conduct regular site visits and inspections, manage contracts and I’m always keeping up to date in relevant legislation to ensure we are operating as safely as possible for our employees and customers.
I also develop standards, investigate incidents and deliver training, which keeps our customers and railway family safe. The most satisfying part about my role is knowing that the work I do has a real impact on everyday life by preventing accidents in the workplace.
We believe that safety-related accidents and operational incidents are preventable. It all comes back to improvement, and I love that I’m helping to create a safer railway for everyone. Our mantra is ‘be safe, feel safe, travel safe’. If you are ever worried about the safety of yourself or someone else when travelling by train, please alert a member of staff if you are able to, and always dial 999 in an emergency.”
Chrissie Hinken, Govia Thameslink Railway Occupational Safety Risk Manager
Responses
Like Chrissie, I have a keen interst in safety. After ten years working for Govia Thameslink Railways, as a technician, I became frustrated at how many safety issues were not taken seriously. Speaking up about Concerns of Asbestos, Hydrogen sulphide and other matters, I was taken aside and dissmissed from employment, for a made up reason.
Sadly, the employment tribunal were unable to address this wrong, whiliat GTR accepted that I had raised six health and safety issues immediatley before being sacked, I could not produce any evidence that thia was the reason why I was sacked.
Escallating the matter of uncontrolled hydrogen sulphide gas leaks to the industry regulator, the ORR, did produce results, and within weeks, an inspection team of three had carried out investigations, where I had been raisibg my concerns.
From thia the inspection team made a number of recommendations to Govia thameslink, and I am please dro hear, from ex work colleagues the Govia have at last started to address these.
I can say that I am happy to now be working for an employer that does take safety seriously. I wish chrissie and her team every success in turning the Govia Thamelink corporate culture of safety around.
One aspect of rail safety that sometimes gets overlooked is that of passengers’ security at stations and particularly late at night. It can be unpleasant coming back late to find no staff on duty at your station and non-travellers hanging around for no apparent reason. CCTV is not the answer either.