Nestle Case Study
Type Of Business:
Multinational food company.
Nestlé produce some of the UK’s most popular brands including Nescafé, Kit Kat and Shredded Wheat. It is estimated around 95% of households in the UK consume Nestlé products.
Candidate:
Tracey Bayliss, Senior Operator
Courses undertaken with Services to Business unit at Wakefield College:
NCFE Level 2 in Health and Safety, NVQ Level 3 in Health and Safety
Openly admitting that school wasn’t her ‘preferred option’, Tracey Bayliss had one key aim from her training. “I wanted to help people to understand the importance of Health and Safety, so I got in touch with the staff at Wakefield College who were fantastic with me. They gave me some great advice and information and have been supportive throughout.”
Tracey immediately noticed the practical advice that she has learnt from the courses has had an impact on her work.
“The factory areas are now safer, and my colleagues also work in a safer way. I have helped to introduce procedures, and ensure that risk assessments are completed. I’ve put the theory into practice. The help from Wakefield College has enabled me to spot the problems that I felt were relevant. The first thing I noticed was that the majority of the incidents and accidents happened during night shifts. My goal was to try and prevent this. We’re doing more observations now with our safety reps involved.
“Everyone seems to be asking me about the training I’ve done with Wakefield College. I’ve also been invited to our sister plant at Halifax to look at their procedures and use any ideas that could be used for us, and this has all come from being proactive. It has allowed me to expand both with Nestlé, but also in myself. Nestlé have backed me and helped me to push myself with my training and development.”
Tracey has also felt the benefits of the training in more ways than just Health and Safety.
“The course has also given me a lot more confidence in my home life. I have three boys and I find that I’m instilling Health and Safety procedures into their lives as well! With working predominantly on nights, the method of learning worked well with my shift patterns and I’ve got some really positive things out of it. My planning and IT skills have also improved and I now also have the self-belief to ask questions and challenge procedures. It’s been really beneficial overall.”
Area Manager Kevin Shrimpton added:
“What Tracey represents is the type of behaviour and type of example that we want all of our employees to set. She has gone from a position where she has had little to do with the organising or managing of safety to someone who is now almost as proactive as her site safety manager.
“She has set an example to many of the other safety reps to aspire to. The take up, interest and motivation in Health and Safety has risen dramatically due to Tracey getting involved in lots of new things and she has demonstrated winning behaviours in owning and resolving issues. We have a very strong Health and Safety culture in our processes and procedures across all of the Nestlé sites and the level of behavioural safety application is getting to the root of incidents.
“Nestlé have seen definite benefits from Tracey’s training. The level of incidents fell this year by half from last year, which is as a direct function of people like Tracey getting involved in the behavioural aspects. It is important that staff understand how incidents link with things such as risk assessments in order to change working procedures and methods. Staff are spotting things in their every-day working life and fixing it, rather than just spotting or ignoring it. The training has had a real impact and we plan to increase this out to other staff.”