Blink Charging

Blink Charging [Blink] is a global leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. Across the UK, the company provides EV charging solutions for public and commercial use, including design, installation, management, and maintenance. With a growing demand for electric vehicles, Blink Charging UK is improving the accessibility of fast and reliable EV charging stations, making them more convenient for users and easier on the environment. 

The Blink Charging team has been growing rapidly to keep pace with the rise of electric transportation. They’ve adopted the SafetyCulture platform to support their expanding operation and meet growing needs.

With rapid growth comes greater complexity

Before SafetyCulture, Blink Charging utilised manual systems for safety inspections and audits. This worked fine on a small scale, but managing operations became more complex as the company and project requirements grew.

This initial method of managing the day-to-day operations became challenging. Andrew Gabb, Head of HSEQ at Blink Charging UK and Ireland, stated that Blink needed to “Gain better oversight into daily operations, especially with subcontractors working in high-risk environments”. His team wasn’t getting the proper insight to make confident calls on making improvements. “We needed real-time visibility into completed work, hazards, and near misses,” Andrew says. A more efficient system was needed to keep operations safe and compliant in the field and the office.

Having used SafetyCulture previously, Andrew saw the potential and how it could work for Blink and improve the way of working. He initiated the rollout gradually, starting with 10 seats, which were used for creating site audit templates, and then expanded to 76 seats across HSEQ, IT, operations, compliance, audit, and delivery managers.

“Once we were up and running with the SafetyCulture platform, we could streamline processes rapidly. It also uncovered additional use cases for other areas within the business, giving us easy access to evidence,” Andrew says.

Solving contractor management

SafetyCulture enabled Blink to seamlessly onboard and manage contractors, as the process can be irregular compared with standard methods for permanent staff. Checklists allow for greater ease of contractor approval before any project begins, ensuring consistent safety standards across every job site.

End-of-day inspections provided audit trails for all subcontractors, allowing them to track daily site progress, conditions, and issues in real-time. To date, subcontractors have completed 759 end-of-day inspections and 489 permits to work through the platform each year, giving Blink real-time updates on field operations.

“This allows us to get instant updates on worksite safety,” Andrew says. “It ensures that risk assessments are completed and work is done safely, even when subcontractors are not on-site. Automating inspections and audits has saved hours of manual reporting, improved efficiency, and allowed the team to focus on what matters most.”

Streamlining approvals

For high-risk tasks, Blink uses Templates to issue permits remotely. For example, the Permit to Dig template is filled out by subcontractors, reviewed by Blink, and can be approved within minutes, all without a site visit.

Templates are essential for EV charger commissioning and sign-off reports, where different models and brands of chargers require custom templates. “This has streamlined the process for getting chargers up and running enormously,” Andrew says.

Sustainability behind the scenes

Blink’s sustainability commitment is supported by SafetyCulture Sensors, which monitor air quality in its offices. “We take our employees’ health and environmental responsibilities seriously,” Andrew says. They also use Assets to track monthly vehicle inspections, adding an extra layer of operational oversight.

From risk to readiness

Blink’s employees are encouraged to report near misses and hazards as they happen with the Issues feature. Analytics spot trends in reported issues and address them before they escalate. 

This proactive approach has allowed them to resolve problems faster and improve workplace satisfaction, making employees feel seen and heard.

Our subcontractors are seeing the benefits in SafetyCulture Issues, too. The volume of issues flagged by subcontractors spiked to 10 per month—a positive sign that subcontractors felt confident and empowered to speak up. 

Across Blink, 123 hazards and near-misses were reported in a short period. This increase in reporting gave the HSEQ team better visibility into what was happening on the ground, allowing them to take preventative action before issues escalated.

Andrew points to a recent example highlighting how effective the system can be in real-world situations: “On one of our London sites, a subcontractor had found suspected asbestos during an excavation,” Andrew says. “They were able to immediately isolate the area and submit a near-miss report via the [Issues] QR code on site.” 

Blink also uses Inspections to manage various safety checks, which include PPE checklists, construction phase plans, risk assessment method statements (RAMS), toolbox talks, and automated accident book entries. To date, they’ve completed over 11,000 inspections, giving leaders visibility across operations at their fingertips.

Flagging risks for lone workers

Some of Blink’s employees must be in the field in their day-to-day roles. This resulted in Blink needing a way to keep remote teams safe. Andrew was an early adopter of the Lone Worker solution, which does just that. “That is a game changer. I’m so excited by it,” Andrew says. “It’s the perfect solution to a long-term issue.” 

After a delivery manager submitted a hazard ID via Issues on lone working, Andrew presented the lone worker solution to Blink’s leadership team: ‘I’ve got the solution to close this one out.’ He used Lone Worker in his business case to demonstrate the value of the SafetyCulture platform for the wider organisation.

He rolled it out to remote workers in the UK and their sister company in Belgium. “Our delivery managers and sales executives are lone workers. Before this feature, the only thing we had in place was a risk assessment,” Andrew says. “Risk assessments are okay – as long as they’re followed and applied.”

Training people smarter, better and faster

Having a highly skilled team is vital for Blink. “To ensure that we have the same proficiency across the business, we utilise SafetyCulture Training to deliver essential courses on HR, diversity, risk assessments, and more. We needed a digital paper trail to show that employees were qualified and trained for their roles,” Andrew says. SafetyCulture made that easy.”

Before SafetyCulture, the team conducted face-to-face inductions with new delivery managers, often requiring site visits and costly travel time. With Training, employees can receive customized courses tailored to their roles, drastically reducing the time and resources spent on inductions. Managers can then use Analytics to track employees’ performance in these training sessions and identify improvement opportunities.

The ability to create and schedule automatic refresher courses has reduced manual record-keeping and saved time, ensuring all employees are up to date with training. “We love that we can set up modules and courses on the go and deliver training remotely, even via Teams. It’s a huge efficiency boost for us,” Andrew adds.

Getting the message across from the boardroom to the break room with Heads Up

Communicating clear and consistent messaging across a global organization is challenging. To overcome this, Blink Charging has integrated Heads Up into its communication strategy to send safety alerts and action reminders, such as document updates and having new starters agree to the car-use policy. “It’s a quick, efficient way to keep everyone informed,” Andrew says. 

Workers acknowledge receipt of messages, ensuring all team members see crucial updates. Weekly reports on outstanding Actions ensure they’re followed up promptly. “This way, nothing falls through the cracks,” he explains.

An Electric Future supported by SafetyCulture

Looking ahead, Blink Charging plans to expand its use of SafetyCulture. With the platform now supporting Amsterdam and Belgium, the company plans to expand globally, potentially helping the wider group in EU, India, the USA, and Latin America. Andrew is passionate about providing all employees with the resources and ensuring they can leave work in the same condition they arrived in.

“Health and safety are essential pillars of our business. We all have a basic right to be safe at work and to get home. SafetyCulture has made a difficult job easier,” Andrew says. “Many of our subcontractors have even implemented it in their business after using it with us. I couldn’t imagine working without it.”

“SafetyCulture has been invaluable. It’s helped us build confidence in our operations and ensure we do everything possible to protect our people and meet regulatory standards,” Andrew says. “I’m a big advocate. The only thing that limits us with SafetyCulture is our imagination.”