Notwithstanding the disruptive nature of the pandemic, Express Trailers’ Health & Safety Committee still managed to renew its focus on health and safety training amongst its employees. In fact employees clocked over 300 hours of training in health and safety throughout the past year and a half.

“Our Health & Safety Committee is a team of very technical people who support us all throughout. It has been of great support to everyone across the company, from us working in HR, to the whole management and the operations teams, assisting everyone with its insight on a holistic level,” explained Nicole Vella, Head of HR at Express Trailers. 

“Obviously, this increased focus on health & safety has reflected itself on our programme of training events which has centered mostly around technical training for our people working in the industrial sections, routine training related to the transport of dangerous or classified cargo and operational risk management training for those in the management of the company.” 

Nicole explained how whilst the Health & Safety Committee has managed to increase the number of risk assessments held over the past year, the fact that its members are also responsible for implementing any changes decided through risk assessments has brought about more awareness throughout the organisation. 

“We have managed to nurture a strong belief that mitigating risks through awareness, education and adaptation through small changes, is indeed possible. Most changes which were previously thought as impossible, were made possible and people now appreciate that with the right attitude and perseverance, culture change is possible.” 

Nicole also referred to how most training at Express Trailers has had to move online but that thanks to The Logic Training Centre, certain training that relies more on practical aspects, was still made possible as groups were divided for easier implementation of precautionary COVID measures. 

“People however are missing the traditional physical training because they miss the interaction and the socialisation aspects of training,” outlined Nicole Vella. 

“Online training has reduced the opportunity to discuss in smaller groups during coffee breaks, or with the lecturer after the session. It remains a fact that the natural socialisation and networking that is achieved through conventional training programmes will never be replicated online.” 

“When it comes to training for drivers and those who work in the industrial areas, wherever we can, we try and encourage interaction during the sessions by involving practicals whenever possible, so that the employees can better understand the relevance of their training to their jobs/lives. It is of utmost importance that the content is understood by all for training to be effective.” 

Express Trailers’ HR team is now planning to introduce an internal refresher programme for all industrials to continue building good Health & Safety practices and introducing new company policies and procedure updates. 

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