Throughout September, staff at TSG UK were fully immersed in the company’s health and safety strategy – thanks to its SAFEtember initiative.

The leading sales and service provider, to the fuel retail and commercial fleet fuelling industries, launched SAFEtember for the first time in 2019, which saw a month of events, competitions and communications reaching the 235 strong members from TSG UK – including construction workers, office-based staff and senior management, as well as customers and contractors.

Covering four key topics of; Health and Wellbeing, Respiratory Illness, Mental Health and Driving Safety, each week. The HSSE team, along with the senior management team, created a month-long initiative including, daily focus points, 6 Roadshows across the Country, and much more.

Andy Wallace, Operations Manager at TSG UK, explains; ‘H&S is our number 1 priority. We have long had a central philosophy of “Go Home Safe” – a mantra that we use to signify, not only the importance we put on our employees going home safely each day, but even more importantly, to ensure our employees think about the ramifications were they not to. We encourage them to think about their personal lives, loved ones, friends and their hobbies, all the things important to them, that would be adversely affected should they have an accident at work. We find that this messaging helps people concentrate in the dangerous environment that they are working in.

‘SAFEtember was launched to further instill these messages and to ensure everyone at TSG UK gets to hear our full commitment to their safety, face to face.’

Each of the 6 SAFEtember roadshows were planned with the varying locations of TSG UK’s employees, across the Country, ensuring each and every member of the team could attend at least one show.

Neil Farmer, HSSE Manager at TSG UK, adds; ‘Although the H&S message is clear throughout our sites and our daily communication with our teams, our aim for SAFEtember was to get in front of every employee of TSG UK and ensure they understand our commitment to H&S and our motto of ‘Go Home Safe’ – which is exactly what it did.

‘Part of the Respiratory Illness discussions highlighted issues at work, but also that these measures also apply when you’re at home, carrying out DIY for instance, and Driving Safety focused on our drive to and from work, when we’re more likely to ‘switch off’ and not follow procedures enforced at work.’

As part of the initiative, TSG teamed up with several partners to help deliver the important messages. Attendees to the Roadshows heard from; Adam and Laura from Soul Sanctuary, who delivered their inspiring stories of personal development and helped to educate the teams on the psychological aspects of developing a healthier lifestyle, whilst Anytime Fitness gyms deployed their staff to carry out health checks and initiatives to get TSG employees into the gym and thinking about their fitness. The team also delivered a driving safety presentation from SHELL and teamed up with mental health charity – Mates in Mind – which TSG are members of.

Dave Hill, HSSE Manager and Mental Health First Aider at TSG UK, comments on the importance of talking more openly about mental illness; ‘In the past mental illness has been brushed under the carpet. Seen as something dirty, something we shouldn’t talk about. Especially in our industry, which is predominantly male, talking about how we’re feeling just hasn’t been the ‘done thing’. But that has got to change. The statistics are staggering – with 3.3% of the UK population suffering with some form of depression within a week and an average of 16 suicides a day, it’s clear the topic needs to be addressed in an open and honest manner to remove the stigma and get conversations flowing.

‘During our SAFEtember roadshows, mental health and health and wellbeing – two topics that link together – have been heavily focused upon. Highlighting symptoms, encouraging conversation on the statistics and helping our employees to understand that – a. they’re not alone, and b. how to help their colleagues.’