UK Power Networks, the firm responsible for the region’s electricity distribution network, has won an award for a hard-hitting staff safety campaign video.

The film, commissioned by the company from The Edge Picture Company, won a gold award for best script at the International Visual Communication Awards (IVCA) event in London.

The film, entitled Speak Up, is aimed at the thousands of the company’s employees who carry out potentially high-risk work with electricity every day to keep the lights on for millions of customers across the East of England, London and the South-East.

It dramatises the story of an engineer being badly burned and becoming disabled while his wife is at home preparing for the arrival of their new baby, and shows colleagues discussing how they wish they had said something when they had seen him disregarding for safety rules on previous occasions.

Murdo Allan, director of health, safety, sustainability and technical training at UK Power Networks, said: “Safety is our top priority at all times so to receive external recognition for this campaign is good. But what matters most is that it has the impact on our employees, so that all of us go home safely every day.

“The staff have been quite quiet after watching the film as the dangers are very real to us. We want to keep the inherent hazards in our work at the forefront of minds in everything we do and this type of campaign supports our safety policies, procedures, training and initiatives. The message is that we can stay safe by looking after ourselves and our colleagues.”