our workNetwork Rail / Reminding colleagues what they’re getting home safe for
How do you make safety-critical messaging that by necessity is wallpapered everywhere, less… wallpaper?
Colleague safety is a huge priority for Network Rail, but internal research showed that although colleagues still valued and respected the safety messages they saw, they felt they were losing resonance. The message was so well-loved, it had become too familiar. It was time for a reboot…
We were briefed to develop a new identity for Network Rail’s safety vision, ‘Everyone home safe every day’, and then launch it with a disruptive safety campaign to revitalise the message and re-engage colleagues with the importance of putting safety first.
We added more heart into the identity…
The reimagined ‘Everyone home safe every day’ identity was created in accordance with Network Rail’s design system, combining icons of a heart and thumbs up to communicate empathy, care and the importance of doing the right thing.
…and launched it in comms designed to engage with the heart
Most safety comms are by necessity about rules and processes, communicating things you shouldn't do or behaviours that are not allowed. To ensure our campaign sailed above the practical and actually made a connection, we needed to give colleagues a new perspective on safety, and speak to their heart, as well as their head.
If the worst happens – why does it matter?
Rather than focus on what could happen if safety vigilance slips, we went a level deeper into why it matters if it does: what and who are colleagues getting home safe for?
Our 'Home. Safe.' campaign tells the stories of four colleagues who are all passionate about safety, following them as they return home from work, and showing what that life looks like.
Who are you getting home safe for?
People connect with stories, especially the stories of people like them. We leaned into this in a video-led campaign, telling the rich, emotive stories of workers getting home safe for their family, for their church community, for their children, grandchildren and more. In doing so, we prompted workers to consider what and who they are getting home safe for.
We made sure the campaign was inclusive. Not everyone lives with someone else – nevertheless, most of us look forward to getting home safe to something… Our pets, our garden, the 5-a-side team, our mates, even our favourite TV show. The most important thing anyone can do at work, is get home safe to the people and things they love. And we brought these things into the working environment. By plastering the workplace with warm, natural shots of partners hugging, kids playing, toast being eaten and dogs begging, we can jolt people out of their everyday flow state and into a more emotional, vulnerable and alert place.
The campaign served as an emotional flagship, sailing ahead of Network Rail’s more functional safety messaging to prime colleagues to engage and think a little more deeply about the impact a lapse in safety could have on the people you’re going home safe for.
Because safety isn’t just about you – get it wrong, and it impacts everyone in your life.
