“We are delighted that we were able to effectively improve our safety culture through SeaChange and as a result defend ourselves where appropriate and reduce our insurance costs so that we can continue to re-invest in other areas of our business”.
Furey Smyth Retail Group
Furey Smyth Retail Group partners with SeaChange to grow Safety Culture and Reduce Insurance Costs
Client Profile
The Furey Smyth Retail Group comprises seven large Eurospar retail stores that serve loyal customers nationwide. The group prides itself on customer service, operational best practices and providing a best-in-class retail experience serving communities across Ireland.
The Challenge
The Furey Smyth Retail Group was very frustrated with the rising costs of insurance for high footfall commercial businesses. They knew that simply ticking the safety compliance box was not going to help reduce incidents and manage rising insurance costs. The senior leadership team wanted to take a proactive approach – they decided to focus on managing the safety risks and hazards within their control in their retail business. They knew that to achieve this, they needed to focus on improving safety culture and safety behaviour, not just compliance.
They partnered with SeaChange in 2015 with the goal to improve their group’s safety culture, reduce the likelihood of accidents and claims, and manage their rising insurance costs.
“I knew I had to be proactive in managing risk throughout our retail group. Safety is often treated as a box-ticking exercise and we weren’t happy with that – we wanted to go further and bring safety to life in our business so that our people felt accountable for their own safety and the safety of our customers. We engaged with SeaChange, who are experts in providing Safety Culture solutions, and the rest is history” .
Chris Furey, Owner Director, Furey Smyth Group
The Solution
After determining the client requirements, SeaChange provided the Furey Smyth Retail Group with two solutions to improve Safety Culture and reduce the likelihood of incidents for both staff and customers:
Safety Culture Pro Partnership:
Each site within the group received a site-specific risk assessment, key safety compliance, a visual risk awareness system, and champion training to help lead safety culture onsite. The partnership also included access to the SeaChange client portal to log proactive safety KPIs on a routine basis, report on safety performance, and improve defensibility in the event of an accident. Each site receives the SeaChange Safety Culture (SABRE©) Audit annually to benchmark performance and continuously improve safety management.
Slip, Trip and Fall Prevention System:
Each site was zoned into three areas, provided handheld devices, and received champion training in how to run the CAYGO© Slip Trip and Fall Prevention System on a daily basis. This system works on a user-friendly application that enables the workforce to schedule customised CAYGO check intervals to routinely mitigate the risk of slip, trip and fall across the site. The system uses automated scheduling to maintain consistency throughout the day while ensuring that no scheduled CAYGO checks are missed. All staff are engaged in the process, which only takes 30 seconds per CAYGO check, and NFC tagging qualifies location, ensuring that the Staff Checker was physically present.
Both SeaChange solutions provided the Furey Smyth Retail Group with visual, interactive and practical systems that continue to bring safety best practices to life today across the group. The SeaChange client portal enables each site to track their progress, log proactive safety KPIs, trend near misses and regularly report on system compliance. The annual SABRE© Safety Culture Audit measures safety performance and the resulting report and recommendations help the Furey Smyth Group to manage their insurance costs year on year.
The Results
The effort invested by the Furey Smyth Retail Group gained a significant return. Their partnership with SeaChange has generated the following market-leading results:
The Result
The effort invested by the Furey Smyth Retail Group gained a significant return. Their partnership with SeaChange has generated the following market-leading results:
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100% safety compliance
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80% increase in staff awareness
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85% decrease in incidents
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88% decrease in liability claim frequency
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30% reduction in insurance premium costs
The Furey Smyth Retail Group has separated itself from the herd by investing in a partnership with SeaChange and implementing their safety culture systems to target the main risk factors in high-footfall sectors. Improving and sustaining safety culture requires continuous effort and attention, and the Furey Smyth Retail Group are leading the way in the retail space and reaping the rewards in terms of increased staff awareness, increased defensibility, reduced accidents, and significantly reduced insurance premium rates.
Chris Furey | Owner and Director, Furey Smyth Group
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