Danielle sat down with Senior WHS Advisor Phillip Gal to hear about his recent trip up north to help one of our Agri Clients.
DANIELLE: Phil, you have had a bit of an adventure, can you tell me where you have been in the last week?
PHILLIP: I went to the Pilbara, to have a look at several of Bettini Beef’s cattle stations, there were five in total.
DANIELLE: What were some of the highlights of your trip?
PHILLIP: Engaging with staff and getting to know them. They have come from all over to work together as a team.
DANIELLE: What was your role there?
PHILLIP: I was providing work health and safety coaching, relating to hazard assessments and duty of care to station management. I assisted them to identify the hazards they have on their stations so we could identify corrective actions and solutions to make it a safer workplace.
DANIELLE: Do you think there are any real challenges in working in such a remote environment?
PHILLIP: Businesses in the Pilbara and in the Kimberley are operating in isolation, so they don’t get to see examples of how other businesses operate.
DANIELLE: How do your visits to their operations assist them?
PHILLIP: I bring a wide range of experience from multiple workplaces to their organisation and help them to identify key concerns that they may have overlooked in the past.
DANIELLE: What impact do you think your visit has had?
PHILLIP: I was there for a week, engaging with the Station Managers and staff, hopefully, I raised awareness regarding issues around work health and safety. Also, sparking further interest in providing a safe workplace.
DANIELLE: As a society, we are so busy getting the job done, that sometimes, not intentionally, we do lose that focus on work health and safety? Do you think that is one of the challenges when you are in a busy workplace, whether it is a station, broadacre farm or a business, located in Perth or elsewhere?
PHILLIP: Yes, definitely! You can get tunnel vision and be so focused on your business outcomes that you lose sight of the safe working environment that you should have and need to have to be successful in your enterprise.
DANIELLE: In addition to what you have offered in terms of coaching, training, and mentoring, tell me a bit about what Bettini Beef uses to support their organisation in being compliant.
PHILLIP: ProcessWorx has an online safety management system ProcessworxShield. It enables workers to have access to information and resources to help provide a safe workplace. There is information on how to do the job safely. It also provides a database to store information that can be referred to in the future, including Risk assessments, training registers, and competency assessments for staff.
DANIELLE: What is the one thing that you would say to any business owner when it comes to igniting that real awareness of safety – what is that one piece of advice that you would give them?
PHILLIP: I would like business owners to realise that Safety is not an addition to their business, it is an integral part of how a good business is run. A proper safety management system implemented in the business is no different to any other processes used by the business. It all begins with having a good safety culture.
Phillip travels the state to help our Agriculture clients with their Work, Health & Safety. If you are interested in Phillip helping your Agribusiness contact ProcessWorx on 08 93169896 or enquiries@processworx.com.au.
