Case Study
Safety Culture Evaluation for Ford Motor Company Ltd
The Client
Ford Motor Company Ltd has been the UK's new car market leader
for 28 consecutive years and its iconic Transit van celebrated its
40th anniversary in 2005. Ford employs over 14,000 people at 10
locations in Britain, including the Transit plant in Southampton,
producing 375 vans a day. Ford's vision is to be the world's
leading consumer company for automotive products and services This
brings with it considerable challenges in health and safety.
The Problem
As a global company, Ford is committed to demonstrating social
responsibility and reducing its accident and illness rate. With
Human Factors being a key aspect of modern health and safety
management, Ford approached HSL to see how we could help them
answer the question "How can we best evaluate the safety
culture in our production plant workforce to identify priorities
and action plans to address health and safety perceptions, issues
and concerns?".
What We Did
HSL worked in partnership with Ford to undertake a safety
culture evaluation, including:
- Using our 'Safety Climate' tool to prepare a tailored
questionnaire for
employees.
- Analysis of data to inform the design and development of focus
groups.
- Facilitation of focus groups to give an opportunity for
employees to express their views on:
- Underlying factors identified from the questionnaire.
- Identification of priorities and action plans to address safety
concerns.
- A comprehensive report presenting the key findings.
Outcome/Benefits
The project has had significant benefits for Ford, including
- Understanding the underlying safety culture within their
Southampton plant
- Insight into potential barriers preventing them from achieving
their health and safety objectives
The most significant impact of the work for Ford has been the
involvement of its employees in the development of a targeted and
prioritised strategy to address health and safety concerns.
Ford are taking forward the recommendations made by HSL and
expect to see a significant financial return on their investment in
the reduction of sickness absence and improved worker
well-being.
Downloadable pdf of case study
Demonstration video of the Safety Climate
Tool
"We have a very good safety record in Ford, however it's easy to get complacent. This survey allowed us to get a level of insight and understanding not previously available. In particular we started to get to know how our people 'feel' about our commitment to safety and build a response that will further improve our safety record. Be prepared for honest and sometimes difficult messages, but it's worth the journey!"
Rob Ardley, Human Resources Manager, Ford Southampton
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