Abigail Patterson on LinkedIn: Our Health and Safety Vision | 13 comments (2024)

Really useful day today at the RSSB Operations risk and safety conference. This was my 3rd time attending, and it's genuinely always one of the most useful days of my year. Today was my first time presenting, on train overspeeding risk. Thanks for the opportunity, I look forward to attending again in future.

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We had a night out this evening as a family... at the local hustings. Really proud that my 7 year old daughters question was the first one asked.I hoped to show the kids that politics matters, and that showing up and raising your voice can make a difference. Hopefully that will stay with them as they grow up.Many of the candidates spoke really passionately about how getting involved in local campaigning led to them deciding to run for Parliament, and it was clear that whatever divides them they share a desire to serve their community and make a difference.

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Heatwave preparation:✅ Windows shut✅ Curtains upstairs drawn✅ Shade sail up, shading decking and back of house✅ Suncream applied✅ Water bottle topped up✅ Travel and exercise earlier or later, not in the heat of the dayNow to enjoy a lovely iced coffee 😊☕ Feeling grateful that I can work from home or an office, instead of outside in this weather.How is everyone else staying safe in this weather?

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I stumbled across this podcast when looking for something to listen to this evening.I can't recommend it highly enough. I was inspired, humbled and profoundly moved by this episode and the next episode, which focuses on the particular struggle of the "radium girls" (and many were only girls of 12-16 when they did this work) in the 1920's and 30's.If anyone needs a reminder of just how vital the Health and Safety at Work Act and its accompanying legislation is, this is a good place to start. Also, it's a vital reminder that equity, diversity and inclusion is crucial if we are to deliver healthy and safe workplaces. I will leave you with this one nugget that struck me on that theme: a number of women who had worked at the radium factory in New Jersey had died, yet there had been no autopsies and no investigation. The first man to die at the plant was autopsied and it was only his death that started the investigation into why so many workers were getting sick and dying in this factory. Women's lives were essentially disposable.https://lnkd.in/gP54Zzag

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My day in the office took an unexpected turn today when I received a phone call. 10 minutes later I was downstairs in the Occupational Health clinic, being randomly tested for drugs and alcohol. Despite knowing I had no reason to worry, I couldn't help being at least slightly nervous. Yet, I fully support our policy and random testing. I make decisions that could potentially impact the health and safety of my colleagues, and it's only right that I do that unimpaired by the effects of drugs and alcohol. Railway history shows us all to vividly what the effects can be when we don't have a policy like this.So, thank you to our OH team for the helpful reminder that my decisions matters, that I need to come to work free from drugs and alcohol of course, but also as fit, well, and well rested as possible, able to do the best possible job for the right outcome for my colleagues.

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This really resonated with me. I don't post much online, and when I do I will re-draft, re-read and check my posts, often steering clear of anything even slightly contentious. On the whole I've found LinkedIn to be a relatively positive place for discussions, but I still worry.How can we promote better engagement online and make it easier to have respectful discussions and disagreements?

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My daughter came home from school yesterday, excited about celebrating Earth Day. Both my kids care passionately about the environment, something I'm only to keen to encourage. I'm therefore disappointed at how it was celebrated with her year, with a big company coming in and handing out new, unnecessary stuff and using it as a marketing opportunity. My daughter is too young to question whether this company actually has the green credentials they told the kids they have, but I think handing out plastic tubs that many people will throw away is not quite what Earth Day is about.

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Communicating isn't easy, particularly in adverts and signs. I don't envy those whose job it is to create these adverts.But I do have a plea, that those who do might take a step back and think about how their sign/advert might be taken by those who take things very literally. My son is one of those, and also prone to reading everything in his surroundings. Take a well known sign, that I'm sure you've all seen whilst driving on a motorway: Tiredness can kill, take a break. Simple, clear message, yes? Pull over, take a break from driving so you don't crash the car, with the risk of fatalities as a result. But to my son, he saw that as meaning that he could literally drop dead in the back of the car because he was a little tired, and was anxious as a result. A quick conversation, and he understood the context and was somewhat reassured.Other communications are even harder for him, particularly political adverts he's seen. He's recently returned from a trip to London and spotted a Tory attack advert on the Tube, talking of a supposed rise in knife crime under Sadiq Khan and claiming that 'London is no longer safe'. To him, this is an absolute, not a message that an unlikely adverse event (being stabbed) is now slightly more likely, he is now in imminent danger all the time whilst in London. Harder to reassure about that one, although we've made some progress in talking about why people are saying that and questioning whether this claim is true.As you may have guessed from some of my posts, it's likely that my son is a little neuro-spicy (no formal diagnosis but...). I recently learned that 1 in 7 of us are, and although not all will have this struggle a good number will so it won't just be my son struggling with interpreting messages this way. How can we communicate in ways that more of us can understand and interpret, and that may cause a little less anxiety for those who are neuro-diverse?

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Great day today at the Rail Safety Summit. Lots of thought provoking presentations, and a great opportunity to speak about the HSMS update I've lived and breathed for the past year. I also really enjoyed meeting counterparts from Turkish Railways and discussing rail safety with them.I'm tired now, nerves were getting the better of me last night and I didn't have the greatest night sleep but I'm glad I challenged myself to step out of my comfort zone and present today. Now off to finish the day at choir, a lovely way to end a really enjoyable day.

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