Two Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) employees have won a special ‘Pride’ award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) for saving the life of a man on the tracks.
The award was made to husband and wife employees Paul and Agy O’Brien at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) Health and Safety Awards. The couple was recognised for saving a man at an East Sussex station when he tried to take his own life on the railway. Last week, on World Suicide Prevention Day, they helped promote a series of motivational messages including “It’s OK not to be OK” in a campaign launched by GTR.
In total, GTR, which runs Great Northern, Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express trains, won three national safety accolades at the prestigious ceremony. The engineering team, which maintains, upgrades and cleans the network’s 2,800 carriages, won Gold for its health and safety record while the company as a whole won Silver for health and safety overall.
Engineering director Steve Lammin said: “In the Engineering teams, there is a real determination to drive the ‘Zero Harm’ ethos. Receiving such a prestigious accolade shows that we are certainly heading in the right direction.
“The different departments within Engineering have really come together to deliver best practice and an even safer environment for our staff and passengers alike.”
Head of safety and health Mark Whitley said: “This is an excellent achievement that recognises the hard work teams across the business have put in over the past year, and the progress we are making towards our ambition for Zero Harm.”
