Wellbeing top of the rail agenda

Putting health and wellbeing at the top of the rail agenda

We speak to the team who turned a couple of notes on a bit of paper into Rail Wellbeing Live

Rail Wellbeing Live was a success on so many levels, but none more so than the impact it has and will continue to have on the 13,000 people who took part in some of the 80 sessions.

But the event was very different to the original concept scribbled on a piece of paper by John Halsall, Chair of the Rail Wellbeing Alliance and Managing Director of Network Rail’s Southern region. It was initially planned to be just one-day at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena for a maximum of 1,000 people – until the pandemic struck.

John then tasked the team with starting over, creating an event that took full advantage of its new virtual status. Producer, Emily Haggard; Head of Comms, David Langton; Marketing Lead, Ruth Thornett; Event Consultant, Robert Digings; and Rail Wellbeing Alliance Representative from RSSB, Michelle O’Sullivan, worked with Quadrant Events to create something never before seen in the industry.

“I’m enormously proud to have been part of Rail Wellbeing Live and to have been involved from the very start, when there was nothing more than two or three sentences on a sheet of paper,” said Robert, an independent consultant for 25 years, who is experienced in facilitating live event production.

Enormous success “From that concept of creating an event dedicated to wellbeing we have created something that was attended by 13,000 people, with over 37,000 sessions attended by individuals from 600 different railway organisations across two days.

“As a first event it was an enormous success and heartening to see the rail industry taking the wellbeing of staff so seriously. It was interesting and challenging in equal measure.”

It is a view shared by Emily: “I was immensely proud to be working with a fantastic team of people to deliver this event. Rail Wellbeing Live was an exciting event to produce – completely changing our strategy on more than one occasion!” The challenges were probably amplified by not just launching a new brand, but doing so in year when the events calendar has been decimated by the pandemic.

“During the first few months of this year we were planning a one-day event in Coventry and then of course coronavirus happened and that changed things enormously,” said Robert.

“It was some point in April that we decided it wouldn’t be a real-world event in Coventry

As a first event it was an enormous success and heartening to see the rail industry taking the wellbeing of staff so seriously

because of all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic. It was then that we turned our attention to doing something innovative with a virtual event and looked at what going virtual would enable us to do and what benefits it would have.

“One thing for certain is that cancelling the event full stop was not an option. To do so would be a real missed opportunity; particularly during a pandemic when everybody was and is so concerned about their health and wellbeing.”

In the end, a dedicated team of organisers manage to find a platform and compile a comprehensive mix of speakers for one of the largest ever events dedicated to health and wellbeing in the rail industry.

Andy Hogben, from Quadrant Events, said: “We worked with a fantastic client team to produce an event that was ambitious in scale and hugely successful in its delivery.

“The whole event has been one of the highlights of a difficult year. The two areas we were most pleased with were the quality and scope of the programme we were able to design for the event, along with two days of flawless technical delivery which really brought the event to life.”

Among those contributing included mental health advocate and entertainer Ruby Wax, BBC Breakfast’s resident doctor Dr Rangan Chatterjee, Embarrassing Bodies star Dr Dawn Harper, and retiring RMT General Secretary Mick Cash, who gave a deeply personal interview about his

mental health. “One of the things I was particularly proud of was the range of content and the rich and diverse range of sessions,” said Robert. “There was a range of people, from household names to industry professionals whose names may not be well known but who have dedicated their lives to a particular aspect of corporate wellbeing.

“There is no doubt that this kind of event makes a difference. I watched one session about exercise and since then I’ve started doing press-ups and squats every day. It only takes a few minutes and I can already feel the difference in my body.

“It is only a simple thing, but it is a little change that if you continue to pursue will make a difference. It is like the sessions that were held about sleeping. Getting a good night’s sleep can make a huge difference on your mental health and wellbeing.”

Emily added: “The event created quite a buzz on so many different topics. We really want to see the industry keep up the momentum this event has started. Since the event in November, we’ve heard that teams across the industry have been inspired to hold their own wellbeing events.”

But the organisers want to go beyond that, with aspirations for something bigger, better and more frequent in 2021. “For it to have maximum effect the industry needs to do more than just a yearly event, and that is part of the planning going forward,” said Robert.

“There were lots of organisations in the industry who were involved in the event who have said ‘This was fantastic, what are we going to do now?’ To maximise this engagement you need to act quickly.

“John (Halsall) is very keen to get something in place to start in the new year. The current thinking is to focus on a different health and wellbeing element every month.

The actual themes haven’t yet been decided, but you could have things like fatigue and diets as monthly targeted campaigns.

“That way there would be a health and wellbeing conversation happening in the industry every month with a mixture of meetings, videos and other collateral.

“Doing something every year would make a difference, but doing something more regularly will have an even bigger impact. As a way of promoting the first Rail Wellbeing Live, we did a series of fortnightly live streams on a Wednesday at 11am called Wellbeing Wednesdays and part of the idea for next year is that they will continue on a monthly basis.

“With regards to another Rail Wellbeing Live, discussions are underway – watch this space!”

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Fleet and attachments list

Doosan DX-140 (Reduced Swing) Tracked RRVs Doosan DX-140 (Offset Dig Arm) Tracked RRVs Doosan DX-270 (Short Arm Heavy Lift) Wheeled RRVs Doosan DX-270 (Long Reach) Wheeled RRVs RRV Chieftain 20T Trailers c/w Standard and 3m Trailer Tow Bars and Ramps RRV Chieftain 20T Ballast Boxes Kubota RTV X900, Personnel Carriers and Tool Trailers Off Track Plant Equipment (Telehandlers, Excavators, Dozers) Pladdet Suction Unit Man Rider Trailer and Cage RRV Trailer Cable A-Frames Conductor Rail and Standard Rail Thimbles Extendable Rail Beams with Swivel Adapter Heads Rigid Beams 4T 3.5m Lifting Spreader Beams 2T 7m Lifting Spreader Beams Cam Lock c/w Drop Chains 3T Cable Handling Yoke with Rotator Motor Plate Grabs with Single and Double Pin Adapter Heads Flail / Mulcher with Long Reach Arm on Doosan DX-270 activities Clam Shell Buckets Log Grabs Temporary Access Systems, e.g. UTAS RRAPs