Make the Difference people forum
Our ‘Make the Difference’ people forum, launched in 2018, is a formal workforce advisory panel which enables frequent opportunities for us to hear and respond to our colleagues.

Our network of 14 ‘People Champions’ collect questions and feedback from their peers across the business and put them to members of the Executive Committee.
We drive change and continuous improvement in responding to the feedback we receive, via our internal communication channels and back through our network of People Champions.
During the Covid-19 lockdown period our People Champions, supported by our HR team, conducted welfare calls to over 200 colleagues. This enabled us to obtain a ‘temperature check’ on how they were coping with the changes and to obtain feedback and ideas about our Covid-secure workplace.
Engagement (sustainability)
Our colleagues play a crucial role in helping to deliver our sustainability goals, for example, by delivering a great customer experience, reducing our waste, and helping to raise levels of awareness.
This year, we ran a series of engagement campaigns to:
- educate our colleagues about Safestore’s alignment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (“UNSDGs”), in particular addressing our three priority areas
- promote the eradication of single-use plastic, for example, during ‘Plastic Free July’, inspiring our colleagues to make changes at work and at home
- capture the imagination of our colleagues through a sustainability ideas competition. This involved suggesting solutions to enhance Safestore’s social impact or reduce our environmental impact

Health and safety
The Covid-19 pandemic has had an extraordinary impact on all of us. In order to continue to manage risk, we have had to anticipate these new health and safety challenges and to respond with pace in order to ensure a healthy and safe environment for our colleagues, customers, suppliers, and contractors. This has involved commitment from all levels of the organisation as well as daily decision making on how to respond to a constantly changing and uncertain situation.
Some of the key actions we have taken to ensure we have been working safely during Covid-19 are:
- practising strict social distancing measures, including reduced store opening hours, allowing only one customer per colleague in reception at any one time, locking reception areas during the lockdown period, and encouraging customers to access their units only where absolutely necessary
- increased cleaning and hand hygiene measures
- installation of protective screens and signage/floor tape and provision of PPE to every site, including masks, visors, and gloves
- reduced access to our Head Office building during the lockdown period and encouraging home working where possible
- Covid-19 risk assessments conducted for every site to ensure appropriate measures are in place for a Covid-secure workplace
- all of our sites continue to operate according to our ‘Policy on safe working during the Covid-19 pandemic’, informed by the results of the Covid-19 risk assessments
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Safestore strives to meet and, wherever possible, exceed best practice through:
- regular and robust health and safety checks across our portfolio
- regular independent audits of sites, performed by our external health and safety consultants on a rolling programme, to ensure that procedures are followed and that appropriate standards are maintained
- ensuring all colleagues understand their responsibility for health and safety at Safestore. If a site is highlighted as falling below our health and safety standards, colleagues onsite are urgently required to make improvements
- comprehensive compulsory health and safety training programmes for all colleagues
- regular Health and Safety Committee meetings to review issues, processes, policy, and actions. The Health and Safety Committee minutes are shared with both our Risk and Audit Committees
- accident reports to identify, prevent, and mitigate against potential risks managed using our online incident reporting systems. All reports are reviewed by the Health and Safety Committee to consider what preventative measures can be implemented
There were no fatal injuries, notices or prosecutions during year ended 31 October 2020 in any part of Safestore operations.
Our pandemic response in numbers
Group health and safety statistics
Customer, contractor and visitor health and safety
Summary:
- 36 minor injuries were recorded over the past year, none of which were reportable under RIDDOR*.
- 3 minor injuries recorded to contractors and 33 to customers. No injuries recorded to visitors.
- Injuries were recorded as 23 minor cuts, 11 bumps and bruises and 2 strains mainly relating to customers handling their goods
Year ended 31 October |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
Number of stores |
146 |
150 |
155 |
Customer, contractor and visitor movements |
137,882 |
137,882 |
120,995 |
Number of minor injuries |
46 |
26 |
36 |
Number of reportable injuries (RIDDOR) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
RIDDOR per 100,000 CCV movements |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Colleague health and safety
Summary:
- 21 minor injuries were recorded over the past year, all cuts and bruises.
- 2 accidents/incidents resulting in over 7 days’ absence were reportable under RIDDOR*.
Year ended 31 October |
2017 |
2019 |
2020 |
Average number of colleagues |
650 |
650 |
658 |
Number of minor injuries |
5 |
24 |
21 |
Number of reportable injuries (RIDDOR)* |
1 |
0 |
2 |
AIIR** per 100,000 colleagues |
202 |
0 |
303 |
* RIDDOR = Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
** Annual injury incident rate = the number of reportable injuries ÷ average number of colleagues (x100,000)