For over 30 years, VolkerRail has worked with British Steel - a leading European steel manufacturer, which supplies high-quality steel products around the world - to maintain and renew its road rail hub in Scunthorpe, used to move up to 10 million tonnes of iron, steel and raw materials per year.

On Sunday 16 January, VolkerRail achieved its tenth consecutive year without a lost time accident, meaning that, since January 2011, VolkerRail put safety first, and achieved over 550,000 continuous hours worked, with staff getting home safe every day.

British Steel’s integrated steelmaking site in Scunthorpe consists of over 100 miles of track and over 300 turnouts, and features three separate sidings, which are used for loading/unloading trains. 

The network also has direct links to the exchange sidings and access to the Cleethorpes to Doncaster mainline.

This extensive network is maintained solely by VolkerRail, with teams completing regular inspections and scheduled maintenance projects to ensure British Steel can safely transport materials around site, and out to its customers, 365 days of the year, 24 hours a day.

To mark the occasion, VolkerRail is donating £1,000 to Lindsey Lodge Hospice, a charity organisation in North Lincolnshire, which provides palliative care to people living with life limiting illnesses and their families.

VolkerRail recognises its legal and moral duty of care for the health, safety and welfare of its employees and those that may be affected by its activities, and through its safety principle of Attitude, Influence and Management (AIM), VolkerRail strives to provide a safe, responsible, efficient and healthy work environment to the benefit of all employees, sub-contractors and other stakeholders.

John Pearson, Metro and Rail Projects general manager for VolkerRail, commended his team, and said: “This is a massive achievement, which deserves to be acknowledged. The team works 365 days a year, ensuring the site is operational 24 hours a day, and attends to anything from a minor repair through to large scale scheduled maintenance. This achievement shows not only the great work done by the team, but is also testament to how the team prioritises safety. Well done all.”

Trevor Charlton, manager site operations, internal logistics for British Steel, oversees the VolkerRail team. He said: “This is an absolutely fantastic achievement by our VolkerRail team. Given the predominantly manual nature of the work and the challenges they face – such as stored energy in rails, outdoor work in all weather conditions and often in the hours of darkness – it’s a particularly impressive accomplishment. Well done to all of you and keep up the good work.”