Forest Garden

The company operates in a high-risk, fast-paced environment. It has over 700 staff across three sites, including a sawmill in Lockerbie in Scotland, a manufacturing hub and a distribution depot in Worcestershire.

Historically, safety was seen as the sole responsibility of the health and safety team. “Why am I doing this? We’ve got a health and safety department,” was a common refrain. Recognising the need for a shift in safety ownership, Ben Whitehouse, Group Head of Compliance, challenged this mindset. He advocated for departmental ownership of safety. “The people on the ground know the job best. They’re the ones who should be training new staff and spotting risks,” he explains.

To support this shift, Forest Garden rolled out IOSH training across all levels of the organisation. Thirty members of staff, including team leaders and operational staff, took the Working Safely® course over four days, while supervisors and managers completed Managing Safely®. Even the CEO and executive directors undertook a leadership-level training programme. “If someone has responsibility, they deserve the training to match,” Ben says.

Impressive results

The impact was immediate and measurable. Near-miss reporting sky-rocketed, increasing by 415 per cent since 2022, while serious accidents (Grade 1 incidents) dropped significantly. “We used to get 82 near-misses reported a year. Now we’re seeing over 400,” Ben notes.

This surge in reporting reflects a deeper engagement with safety, not just a procedural change. “People used to think we were being picky. Now they realise there’s a lot to think about.”

The training also improved Forest Garden’s ability to defend insurance claims. The company has robust documentation, training records and root cause investigations logged in its compliance system. These processes enable Forest Garden to boast an excellent defendability rate on claims – at times as high as nearly 80 per cent, far above industry norms.

The cultural shift extends beyond formal training. Departments now conduct their own inductions, supported by bespoke videos and visual aids. Toolbox talks and safe systems of work use a universal colour code – red for danger, yellow for caution, green for safe – to reinforce key messages. Ben points out that “we’ve moved away from ‘death-by-PowerPoint’. People respond better to visuals and real-world examples.”

Manual handling, a notoriously difficult area to manage, has seen marked improvement, thanks to proactive training and assessments. Each department has its own manual handling instructors, and issues are addressed before they escalate. “We’re seeing fewer injuries and better practices. It’s all about being proactive,” Ben explains.

Despite the seasonal nature of the business, Forest Garden maintains a consistent safety team year-round. Training is offered both online and in-person, with a preference for classroom sessions. As Ben says, “people like getting away from the factory for a day. It’s more engaging.”

While online refreshers are available, face-to-face interaction remains the favoured method, especially for operational staff. Dawn Hardman of Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce delivered the training. She comments, “Group discussions generated valuable opportunities for collaboration and solutions. This engagement and interaction enabled me to enhance the learning experience through discussion of real situations encountered.”

The training has also supported career development. Many departmental trainers started as team members with an interest in safety and have since taken on induction and training roles. “It’s gratifying to see people grow through this programme,” Ben says.

Ultimately, the IOSH training has done more than improve statistics: it’s changed attitudes. “We’ve created a culture where safety is everyone’s responsibility,” he concludes. “And when people care, it shows.”