Govia Thameslink Railway rewrites nursery rhyme in Rail Safety Week campaign
This week is Rail Safety Week and to help raise awareness, our health and safety software client, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has released a new version of the children’s song Heads, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.
The song is called Keep off the Track and is available to stream on Spotify. It promotes safety on the railway by reminding passengers to keep hold of their belongings when getting on and off of trains.
In the last financial year over 400 people risked their lives by stepping onto potentially live railway tracks to retrieve dropped items, which was an 18% increase from the previous year.
As well as the health and safety dangers, industry data shows that last year over 60 hours of train delays were caused by items being dropped on tracks.
The updated lyrics are intended to serve both as a reminder and a warning that the public should NEVER take safety into their own hands by trying to retrieve items themselves.
If they do drop something onto the track, they should speak to a member of the station staff or visit a designated help point.
The rewritten song encourages passengers to check their ‘Heads [phones], Shoulders [bags], Keys, and Phones’ when getting on and off trains. Network Rail data shows that out of all small electronic items dropped onto railway tracks since 2018, headphones account for 50% of items and mobile phones for 43%.
The song has been designed to create a lyric that people will remember when travelling and uses children’s voices for added impact. A previous transport campaign that used children’s voices to deliver important messages showed a reduction in incidents.
The “Keep off the Track” track by Govia Thameslink Railway has been released on Spotify this week and can be listened to by clicking here.
