Praise for safety communications

An innovative digital health and safety communication campaign, introduced by 2 Sisters, has received industry recognition.

A series of short cartoons masterminded by engagement experts, 44 Communications, brought to life a number of simple but key safety messages.

The cartoons, one of which can be viewed at the bottom of this page, feature specially created characters ‘Mr Macho’ and the ‘2 Safety Sisters’.

As part of the campaign, a series of animations were used to bring home important safety points such as the importance of wearing the right protective clothing or holding the handrail when using the stairs. The campaign received a ‘certificate of excellence’ at the recent Institute of Internal Communications Awards (Central and North).

More than 35% of the 23,000-strong 2 Sisters’ food production workforce do not have English as a first language.  Creating a campaign with as few words as possible that was clear and easy to understand was therefore top of the creative wish list – which brought about the creation of Mr Macho and the Safety Sisters!

In each animation, Mr Macho causes a health and safety incident only to be saved by the Two Safety Sisters flying to the rescue. It was also important to show good practice, so 44 Communications advised on the idea of a ‘rewind’, where Mr Macho could be seen doing the right things, and gaining approval from his supervisor.

Jackie Wooldridge, head of health and safety for 2 Sisters said: “We’re delighted to be recognised by the Institute of Internal Communications for the work we’ve done.

The cartoons were a collaborative piece of work. The concept for the ‘2 Safety Sisters’ characters came from a colleague as part of a staff competition! The cartoons have really brought these simple, but essential, messages into focus for us all. It’s also encouraging that our accident frequency rate is falling year on year which is our ultimate goal as a professional health and safety team.”

There are six animations in the series which runs for the rest of 2015 on screens in canteens and rest rooms at 2 Sisters food production sites in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

The animations are one of a number of internal communications improvements introduced over the last year at 2 Sister Food Group including a new colleague newspaper and regular notice board bulletins.