Put in the picture

Essential Standards is being used by more than 120 Lanes drainage operatives working on London Underground (LU) maintenance and repair contracts – in what is believed to be the first initiative of its kind on LU operations.

Lanes Rail Division's Matthew Todd said: "Our aim, with Essential Standards, is to clearly establish a culture of ‘right first time' for all our operations. If worksites are set up right, they have a greater chance of running right, in terms of safety, efficiency and effectiveness."

Lanes Group, the largest independent supplier of wastewater, utility and underground pipeline services in the UK, has invested £40,000 in developing Essential Standards for its rail operations, based at Rainham, Essex.

At its core is a series of cartoon-style images showing 15 worksite set-ups, selected to reflect their importance, frequency and feedback from audit checks. For each image, there is a process map detailing how the site should be managed.

Easy-to-use and durable Essential Standards handbooks, containing the pictures and other operational information, are now carried by every Lanes drainage team, for use as a daily guide. The images and process maps are also being used to create a series of interactive training modules and presentations for use in staff inductions and on-going skills development.