Hydrex is investing in the latest technology and the Safely Home initiative to improve safety awareness among its employees and the wider rail industry.
Says Andy Crago, Safety and Compliance Director, “Hydrex has always seen itself as the leading safety advocate in the rail plant hire market. The Safely Home initiative reinforces that strategy.
“Safely Home is an exercise in raising safety awareness across our employee base and the wider rail community. We have already invested extensively in the training and development of our operational employees.
“Safely Home reminds everyone of one simple message: the personal role they play in maintaining a safe working environment is crucial.
“The aim is to get everyone safely home at the end of the working day.”
Hydrex Rail is the largest provider of road/rail plant solutions to the UK rail industry. It formed its Rail Division in 1993. Safety, reliable delivery and investment are the hallmarks of Hydrex’s strategy for 2011 and beyond.
“The railway of 2011 needs road/rail partners who focus on safety, improving their delivery performance whilst investing in their fleet. Driving efficiency in the provision of plant services is a pre-requisite requirement of all contractors,” says Carl D’Ammassa, Hydrex’s Chief Executive Officer.
A fresh approach
Hydrex has gone through significant change since 2010. The aim is to deliver efficiency savings and offer a fresh approach to customer needs.
“We are building a culture at Hydrex that is based on greater collaboration with our clients; one where our people spend more time listening to what our client needs rather than putting forward what we think they need,” Mr D’Ammassa says.
Safely Home is closely aligned with Hydrex’s Behavioural Safety Programme. There is a broad recognition that getting it right every time is difficult, particularly when dealing with almost 1,000 employees.
However the Hydrex team believes that providing additional focus and driving incremental improvement will enhance a wider safety culture.
This move is facilitated by Hydrex’s active membership within industry groups such as ISLG – Infrastructure Safety Liaison Group; OFG – (Rail) Operations Focus Group; RIAG – Railway Infrastructure Assurance Group; RIEF – Rail Infrastructure Environment Forum and the M&EE – Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.
“Investing in safety solutions is at the forefront of our mind,” continues Andy Crago.
“We have led the way with the introduction of mobile telecoms in machine cabs to improve exclusion zone enforcement.
“In addition, we are making significant investment in our fleet this year both in new equipment and upgrades to existing machines. We have committed £6m to this programme.”
