Best Safety Moment Finalist: Forth Ports

Stand Down for Safety

Forth Ports Group comprises eight strategically located UK ports—seven in Scotland and the largest, Port of Tilbury London Limited, in the southeast. The Group directly employs over 1,300 people.

The 2026 Stand Down for Safety event demonstrated a strong organisational commitment to creating a proactive, inclusive, and collaborative event, continuously improving safety culture across the business. By bringing together employees, operational management and senior leadership, the event created a dedicated opportunity to pause normal operations and collectively focus on Health, Safety and Wellbeing.

The programme combined visible leadership, interactive learning, workforce consultation, and behavioural safety discussions to encourage open communication and shared ownership of safety performance.

Through breakout sessions, employees openly discussed what is working well, areas requiring improvement, and opportunities to further strengthen operational safety. Feedback highlighted improved teamwork, increased visible leadership, stronger hazard awareness, effective use of RAMS and Take 5 processes, and a culture where employees feel increasingly empowered to speak up about safety concerns.

The event also enabled meaningful discussion around key challenges including communication consistency, third-party management, workplace conditions, reporting culture, and the need for ongoing refresher training. These discussions directly fed into a structured action plan with clear priorities, ownership, and timescales, which was communicated and shared with colleagues across the business.

Stand Down for Safety 2026 reinforced the organisation’s commitment to “Work Safe, Home Safe, Every Day” by placing employee voice, collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement at the centre of its Health and Safety strategy.

Additional Information

Stand Down for Safety has evolved over a number of years, it was developed to strengthen workforce engagement, reinforce safe behaviours, and provide employees with a meaningful opportunity to openly discuss Health, Safety, and Wellbeing across the organisation.

For 2026, while positive progress had been made in safety performance and culture, leadership recognised the need to maintain momentum, improve consistency, and ensure employees at every level remained actively involved in shaping a safer workplace. The event was designed to move beyond traditional safety communication by creating a collaborative environment where employees could contribute feedback, challenge practices, and identify practical improvements.

To maximise inclusion, the event was delivered across the business through three sessions (11:30, 14:00, and 22:00), enabling employees from all shifts, including agency workers and contractors, to attend. Invitations were also extended to PSS member ports and business partners, reinforcing a broader commitment to shared learning. And ensures equal access to engagement opportunities, reinforcing the organisations commitment to involving the entire workforce in shaping safety.

The Stand Down brought together operational teams, managers, and senior leaders, including the Executive Board, with normal operations paused to focus entirely on safety and wellbeing. Each session was hosted by the CEO, COO and Group Health and Safety Employee Engagement Manager, with a live stream across five ports supported by Executive representation.

The programme included interactive learning, breakout discussions, and wellbeing updates.

A key feature was the “Pathway to Failure” video series, which featured employees from across the group. The series covered one specific scenario that led to an incident. At the end of each video employees used live voting to identify key contributing factors. This encouraged reflection on planning, communication, teamwork, and decision-making in real operational situations.

Employee-led “Voices of Safety” video, highlighted how frontline workers apply safe systems of work, Stop the Job Authority, RAMS, and Take 5 processes in day-to-day operations.

Breakout sessions focused on three questions: what was working well, what required improvement, what employees wanted to see more of in the future.

Strengths identified: strong teamwork, improved hazard awareness, approachable leadership, and positive safety culture. Opportunities to improve identified: communication, consistency, third-party management, workplace conditions, and reporting processes.

Success was measured through participation levels and the quality of feedback, demonstrating trust and a willingness to engage constructively. All feedback was captured using MS Whiteboard at each breakout group, which allowed for the consolidation of feedback, a formal review and analyse, resulting in a detailed report with clear actions, ownership, and deadlines.

Importantly, the event reinforced a stronger reporting culture and how people view safety from their own perspective, it encouraged employees to have a voice, raise concerns without fear of blame and supporting a “Just Culture” approach. Leadership visibility, open discussion, and direct workforce involvement strengthened trust and accountability throughout the organisation. Overall, the event demonstrated a clear commitment to continuous improvement and to ensuring every employee goes to work safe and returns home safe every day.

Stand Down for Safety 2026 demonstrated a genuine commitment to workforce engagement, visible leadership, and continuous improvement in health and safety performance. A key strength of the initiative was the active involvement of employees at every level of the organisation, alongside external stakeholders, supported by senior leadership presence and participation throughout all sessions.

Delivering the event across three separate shift times and five ports ensured operational inclusivity and maximised participation across the workforce.

The event created an open environment where employees felt comfortable sharing honest feedback, discussing concerns, and contributing practical ideas to strengthen safety culture. The use of interactive learning, employee-led safety discussions, and collaborative breakout sessions encouraged meaningful engagement rather than one-way communication.

Importantly, the Stand Down was not treated as a standalone event. Feedback gathered during the sessions was formally reviewed through a detailed post-event report, ensuring employee input is captured, communicated, and translated into measurable actions. The resulting action plans focus on communication, reporting culture, training, consistency, leadership visibility, workplace conditions, and psychological safety.

The initiative reinforced the organisation’s “Work Safe, Home Safe, Every Day” commitment and demonstrated a proactive approach to embedding safety, wellbeing, accountability, and employee voice into everyday operations.

All employees at the end of each session received practical items that were branded with the “Work Safe Home Safe Every Day” logo. Items included a mini first aid kit, 750ml drink tumbler with lid and from the OH department a pedometer, reinforcing the ongoing focus on personal safety and wellbeing beyond the event.