Everyone should be able to do their job without someone threatening, assaulting or harming them. But on the railway’s front line, sadly, that isn’t always the case. In fact, RSSB statistics show that a staggering 94.1% of frontline staff have experienced workplace abuse. In this session, British Transport Police’s Inspector Keith Barnes describes how incidents of violence against railway staff can occur and how to de-escalate them. He also talks about how body-worn cameras can be both a deterrent and an aid to evidence-gathering once an assault has occurred.
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BACK-on-LINE (TM): Digital technology to help rail workers better manage their back pain in work
Back pain is a common issue among rail workers, with as much as 69% experiencing it every month. Currently, access to effective help is limited to hospitals with long waiting lists and requires therapist involvement. Dr Sheeran has developed a new work-based intervention called BACK-on-LINE (TM).

Strategies for coping with trauma
Working in the rail industry can expose people to potentially traumatic events. As a manager, you want to be equipped with the tools to protect and support your team. The team and organisation around a person can play a big role in a person's recovery after an event. This session gives practical steps managers can take before, during and after an event to reduce the risk to mental health. Managers will also learn how they can protect themselves from burnout and vicarious trauma when supporting trauma-exposed colleagues.

Achieving health on a par with safety
We often use the term ‘health and safety’ but really, we only mean ‘safety’. We keep dropping our ‘H’s. And health is so integral to safety, sustainability and satisfaction! We want to get health on a par with safety – where it should be, and this session looks at how we plan to achieve this and provide examples of some specific work being undertaken at East Midlands Railway.