BrazilFrench rail company works with dss+ on upping safety performance
French rail maintenance company Mesea, a newcomer in the high-speed rail maintenance industry, has significantly improved safety performance by focusing on cultivating leadership capabilities and fostering a culture of risk awareness. A partnership with global consulting firm dss+ powered its achievement.
Recognizing the importance of safety in its everyday operations, Mesea sought the assistance of dss+ in 2018 to implement a safety policy aimed at achieving higher performance and addressing high potential security events.
Mesea is responsible for the maintenance of the South Europe Atlantic High Speed Rail Line, which runs between Paris and Bordeaux in Western France.
Working closely with dss+, Mesea underwent a comprehensive assessment, with the result being a strategic action plan focused on two key areas: raising risk awareness and cultivating safety leadership among managers and employees. This concerted effort led to positive outcomes, including a 60% reduction in high potential incidents and a decrease of 10 in total recordable injuries over a span of three years.
“Mesea has succeeded in our safety transformation initiative, with full dedication and commitment from all leaders and the workforce. In that, dss+ provided strong and efficient support, which has significantly decreased our Lost Time Incident Rate, and put Mesea on a firm track to become a leading zero-incident company,” said Jean-Bruno Delrue, CEO of Mesea.
As part of the transformation of Mesea’s safety framework, 75 leaders and managers were trained and supported in their daily work to raise the company’s safety standards to a higher level.
“Mesea ensures that 20 million passengers travel safely along the +300km railway between Paris and Bordeaux. We must mitigate the risks to avoid what could potentially be serious incidents, but we knew we couldn’t do this alone,” said Delrue.
“dss+ assessed our safety culture and from that we worked together to implement the necessary changes, where through training and coaching we have transformed our safety culture,” he continued.
The partnership with dss+ focused not just on regulations, but took a people-centered approach to changing the mindset of Mesea’s workforce to be more mindful of safety.
“Transforming safety culture is not just about enforcing rules and procedures or removing hazards. It must start with the people, changing attitudes, empowering people and taking ownership for their own actions and the actions of others. Through a risk-aware, engaged culture you can transform safety and ultimately save lives,” said Mathieu Leduc, EMEA Director of Industries & Practices at dss+.
