Amulet gets on board with Rail Safe Friendly to deliver safety training in schools

Churchill Group’s specialist security division, Amulet, has become the first security firm to partner with Rail Safe Friendly (RSF), a network dedicated to improving rail safety in schools throughout the UK.

Rail is a specialist sector for Amulet, and it is committed to supporting the communities it operates in. The 10 schools that Amulet will sponsor are all near lines that are Amulet contracts. Amulet security teams were invited to suggest schools that their children attend for sponsorship, to make it a more personal venture than a simple sponsorship.

RSF seeks to educate children and young people on the many dangers that are present on the railway. For example, nearly half of the UK rail network is electrified and more than 30 per cent uses a third rail to power the train. The third rail has 750 vaults running through it, which is enough to kill or seriously injure someone if they stepped on it.

Overhead cables that power trains carry 25,000 vaults, more than 100 times the power of electricity in the average home. Electricity from overhead lines can also jump or arc through the air, meaning someone does not have to be touching the line to be electrocuted and killed.

RSF uses content from the Network Rail Switched On Rail Safety website to deliver live or on-demand virtual training to school classrooms or assembly halls. This is done through the Learn Live platform and since 2019 it has reached over 21 million young people in over 12,500 schools across the UK in partnership with the Trespass Improvement Team at Network Rail.

The Learn Live channel also has a moderated, GDPR compliant “LIVE CHAT” facility to promote interaction and involvement from the schools and colleges taking part in RSF.

Schools can achieve a bronze, silver or gold award depending on their level of outreach beyond delivering the training to students.

Kieran Mackie, MD at Amulet, said: “I vividly remember rail safety programmes when I was at school, but it seems that this has fallen by the wayside in recent years – Rail Safe Friendly aside. We do so much community work around our rail contracts that as soon as I heard about this programme, I was keen to be involved in any way. We cannot assume that all children are aware of the dangers of rail lines and this initiative provides life-saving advice.”

Stuart Heaton, Founder and Managing Director at Learn Live, said: “Without the support of the rail industry we would not be able to deliver this vital rail safety education to so many school children across the UK. I am delighted to welcome Amulet to our programme and thank them, along with all the other companies who support Rail Safe Friendly, for their support. Their involvement means that we can reach even more children with critical rail safety messages.”