Colas Rail

Case Study

The task

Lloydmasters was engaged by Colas Rail to reduce the risk of major accidents by building the organisation’s capability in recognising and managing risk across the multiple high-hazard environments in which it operates.

Colas Rail is one of the largest providers of track renewal, maintenance, signalling systems and engineering support to Network Rail. It also provides turnkey solutions for line electrification and operates a fleet of engineering trains, goods locomotives and other on-track machines. The vast majority of its work on the network takes place in a complex, high-hazard environment and generally involves delivering to tight deadlines.

Lloydmasters has been working with Colas Rail since 2014 on a series of projects to help enhance the company’s capability in managing risk. Colas Rail’s starting point was already industry-leading and it had already introduced a number of best-in-class initiatives such as its fair culture approach to accident investigation and a widely-used app for incident reporting which is also available to its partners, contractors and suppliers.

What we did

Our most recent work has included a series of tiered workshops, delivered both on-line and face-to face, in which we work with senior leaders as well as on-site managers and supervisors to develop enhanced strategies for identifying, anticipating and reducing risk. By exploring hazards in real time and conducting deep-dives into key areas of risk, the workshops develop not just a more rounded understanding of risk, but tap into people’s existing knowledge and expertise to build shared plans and commitments to improve safety both at a strategic level and in terms of day-to-day operations.

The results

Since 2021, over 400 leaders have taken part in Lloydmasters’ Target Risk workshops which are now being incorporated into Colas Rail’s general leadership development programme for all functions and disciplines to further reflect on how their decisions – for example in relation to training, recruitment, procurement, IT and so on – can play out in terms of influencing risk on site. The workshops also equip them with a toolkit of leading-edge techniques and insights based on the latest academic thinking on risk. The impact of the programme has been significant in building the resilience and confidence of the organisation.