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CHT March 2016

times – many of whom will likely be high spirited, and hence far more likely to cause additional disruption for other passengers and employees. As well as having to deal with a much higher-than-usual number of ‘bodily spillages’, support services employees often find themselves becoming a target for angry and abusive passengers. To help them deal with verbal abuse, all of our operatives receive training on conflict management. Knowing how to defuse charged encounters can be vital when faced with customers who are intoxicated. Even taking out the passenger element, railways and stations are highly challenging environments that can, if not given the correct respect, be life-threatening. Whether working on live tracks or on operational platforms, support services employees are trained to remain vigilant against a variety of risks. It may seem unlikely, but the danger of maintenance equipment, for example, coming into contact with live overhead lines is a very real threat for operatives. COMING OUT OF THE SHADOWS As the modernisation of our transport system continues, the role of support services employees is now evolving to become increasingly customer-facing. New technologies are transforming our stations. With digital platforms – from social media through to mobile ticketing apps – able to fulfil many of the traditional roles once performed by station ticket halls, rail operators are bringing their employees out from behind the ticket windows and deploying them elsewhere. Redundant ticket offices are now being removed, or replaced with retail space or restaurants to encourage dwell time and capture more value from the space. With many stations reducing the presence of passenger contact points, we are seeing more and more customers using security, maintenance and cleaning teams as their first port of call for information and assistance. Support services providers are now working with transport operators to facilitate this process. At Interserve, all of our employees, regardless of their role, receive dedicated customer service training to help them respond to customer enquiries. They are also provided with station packs specific to each shift location, detailing key facts about the area, to arm them with suitable responses to the questions most likely to be asked by passengers. KEEPING PEOPLE SAFE Cleaning and maintenance operatives are also providing invaluable support when it comes to security. Spotting potential threats in a crowded 20 MARCH 2016 station is not an easy task and requires a large, roaming security team – and with transport operators budgets already stretched, resourcing such an operation is not always easy to do. Working alongside operators and the British Transport Police, our cleaning operatives are trained to deploy the British Transport Police’s ‘HOT protocol’ – a system to identify potential threats, determine the level of risk and then report it based on three criteria. These are whether the item is hidden ie. has it been deliberately concealed from employees and the public; whether the item is obvious, for example in its physical appearance or placement; and finally is it typical of what one would expect to find in that environment. By working together, we are essentially providing transport operators with additional eyes on the ground – ensuring that passengers stay safe without any additional expenditure for the operator. A DOUBLE-TAKE When hurrying on our way to work, few of us stop to consider the complex system that is the nation’s rail network. Teams of people – from cleaners, to security guards, to maintenance operatives – deliver vital tasks across an incredibly diverse and dangerous environment, often working against the clock. The sheer scale of the operation is alone remarkable and requires careful planning and management on a minute-byminute basis. Every sector faces its own unique challenges, but for those facilities management professionals operating in other high public footfall and time-critical industries, there are many lessons to be drawn from the transport sector’s example. By working together, support services personnel and operators are responding to modern challenges for the industry; providing a high standard of customer service while continuing to manage the needs of a large and complicated asset. FEATURE TRANSPORT “By working together, we are essentially providing transport operators with additional eyes on the ground – ensuring that passengers stay safe.”


CHT March 2016
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