Cadbury Trebor Bassett

Thousands of staff at confectionery leader Cadbury Trebor Bassett underwent the Deal With It^® interactive workshop after trials of the course helped achieve a 45% cut in workplace accidents.

SHE Group’s behavioural training package was initially introduced by Cadbury Trebor Bassett at its Bournville manufacturing site in Birmingham. But Cadbury was so delighted with the results that it extended the training programme across other UK operations.

The success of the training package was even more remarkable because Cadbury Trebor Bassett was already an industry leader in minimising workplace accidents. Figures from the Health and Safety Executive showed that, even before introducing Deal With It^®, the company’s accident rate was just half the average for UK industry – and less than a quarter of the average for the country’s food manufacturing sector.

Kevin Averill, Safety Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at parent group Cadbury Schweppes, said: “We had reached the stage where we were effectively best in class and we were searching for a couple of years for a behavioural programme that would develop our health and safety objectives even further.”

He added: “The strength of the Deal With It^® programme is basically about encouraging the teams to look after one another and ensure each other’s safety. This is the first bespoke programme we have bought that has had a direct impact on the people who were most at risk.” Cadbury Trebor Bassett’s initial commitment to the programme involved 1,400 workers at the Bournville manufacturing site completing Deal With It®. Employees undertaking the half-day course ranged from packaging staff to mechanical fitters, from electricians to power truck operators, and from plant operators to managers and team leaders – in total, covering 24 different occupations.

Following an amazing 45% decline in accidents at the Bournville site, Cadbury Trebor Bassett subsequently ran Deal With It^® among more than 600 staff at a Bristol manufacturing unit. Five thousand people were ultimately set to complete the training across its different UK operations, from as wide an area as the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Devon.

According to Kevin Averill: “This programme has changed people’s attitude, to make sure that everyone is dealing with health and safety issues as they see them. Workers are no longer embarrassed to say to a colleague ‘you shouldn’t do that’. We are addressing things that can be as simple as people not holding a handrail.”

He added that the course could benefit every member of the workforce. “Very often it is not just the person taking the risk who will suffer,” he said. “It will probably impact on colleagues, friends or family, either due to being injured themselves by the person’s actions, or their lives being affected looking after the injured person. I think Deal With It^® gets that message across very well.”