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Case Study: Manor Fresh

Manor Fresh, of Holbeach Hurn, Spalding, Lincolnshire, was formed in April 2006 by the merger of DGM Grower Ltd and GeestQV. It packs vegetables for retailers such as Marks and Spencer, Morrison's as well as processors, wholesalers and other retail organisations in the UK and abroad. Turnover is about £50 million, with around 240 on-site workers, mostly in production, plus up to 30 temporary staff at key periods.

The problem

The merger meant a restructure of health and safety policy, with a need to reduce the number of accidents. Operations involved manual handling and workplace transport - activities with traditionally high accident rates - often carried out by temporary, unskilled staff and workers who spoke little or no English.

The solution

Operations Manager Shayne Tyler realised that the workforce was key to the solution. One of his first acts was to set up a collective agreement forum and a health and safety committee, representing management and the workforce.

The forum is open to the whole workforce and handles general issues and views, while the health and safety committee has 12 members from both management and the workforce. It is run without hierarchy, and meets every four to six weeks.

Committee member Linda Cousins has worked in the industry for about 30 years. She says: 'I'd just started to get involved with health and safety with Geest so I did have some experience. What I've found at Manor Fresh is a real commitment to worker involvement. There's strong communication between the management and workforce on safety.'

One example is the way 'management and worker' paired focus teams look at specific tasks. For instance, Murray Rankin (QA Manager) and Linda Cousins worked closely and equally on manual handling risk assessments.

But despite the new health and safety policy and a reduction in accidents, an employee suffered a forklift truck accident in 2009 which injured his hip.

Shayne said: 'We were very upset not only for the person concerned but because we felt we had taken a backward step on safety despite our efforts.'

He intensified safety procedures, delegating some of the workforce to take responsibility for specific areas such as manual handling and specialist equipment. He also asked local HSE inspector Judith McNulty-Green to organise a training day and workshops. Further improvements in safety led Judith to call this one of the best examples of worker involvement in her twenty years as an inspector.

Quality Control Supervisor Shelley Goldsmith said: 'After the accident we felt we needed to make a fresh effort. We became far more proactive. In the past we'd report something and wait for an engineer to put it right. Now if it's something we can deal with, we do it ourselves and report back at the next meeting.'

Key elements resulting from the worker involvement initiative:

• English language courses for foreign workers. 45 per cent of the workforce - eight nationalities - comes from continental Europe. Twice-weekly courses are held in paid company time and are free to the employee. Signage in four different languages is placed in key areas around the plant. Another measure against language barriers is different coloured clothing to indicate where access is allowed on the shop floor.
• The health and  safety team regularly attends courses such as COSHH and IOSH, and refers regularly to the HSE website when looking for new ideas, such as slips, trips and falls assessments and risk assessments. All  members of staff are encouraged to seek relevant information to assigned safety activity.
• The company funds a helpline which staff can call to report any safety problems. Employees receive a credit-card-sized helpline card written in several languages on induction.
• All accidents are reported, however minor. Photographs of health and safety representatives are displayed so employees know who to approach with a safety problem. Workers are encouraged to suggest new or improved practices and there are internal safety campaigns.
• Health and Safety and Environmental Officer Rachel Hamilton was seconded. 'I'm very impressed. The workforce has a very pro-active approach to safety.'

The Results

Accidents have reduced from 78 to 48 over three years – a consistent falldrop of almost 20% a year.

Staff turnover has reduced. Sick leave is well below the national average. Forty employees (about a sixth of the workforce) were recently commended on their 100% no-sickness record during 2009.

Staff morale is high. Despite heavy snow and hazardous driving conditions during the winter of 2009/10, 99% of employees reported for work

Shane comments: 'Health and safety are our primary responsibilities, so costs are assessed and generally implemented with no regard to payback. We feel what has been achieved in improved safety and morale speaks for itself.'

The Manor Fresh ethos is 'Continuous Improvement'. Its aim is to make the workplace as safe as possible through continued worker involvement.