Bonnie is our Business Support Officer. A major part of her role is making sure our team are safe and able to do their jobs with the right equipment and support at all times. Learn more about how she makes sure we’re always returning to the Flock.
As our Business Support Officer, I take safety seriously at E2M. It’s part of my job and a value here, so helping our people return to the nest safely is a priority. Some of the ways we do that are
The cars are an essential component of accessing the regions we need to, safely. So making sure our people are safe in the vehicles is critical. If they’re in the bush and don’t have access to facilities, it could be a safety issue. These six points are ways I help:
We’re one team and everyone stays together
Weather is one of our greatest challenges. Whether it’s a cyclone, floods, heatwaves or droughts, making sure our team have the equipment and tools to stay safe together is critical.
The cars are an essential component of accessing remote regions safely. So making sure our people are safe in our vehicles is critical. We had a situation recently where the team had to park on the side of the road. Our rule is always that the Flock stay together until assistance comes – and we enacted that as a priority process.
We also have an emergency button in each of the cars which calls home base if there’s a critical or urgent issue.
Safe and checked equipment saves lives
If we have a new starter, I make sure they have all the equipment and training to be safe. That could be gloves, sunscreen, hats, neck coolers, boots, uniforms – everything they need is here, tested, checked, audited and available whenever they need.
We make sure our team have their smartphones, and we’re able to contact them via Garmin and other tools provided by the client for the specific site they’re working on. We also have a digital tracking platform which is connected to an external company. So, when the team leave, they have to enter a return time, and if they haven’t returned or closed the job by that time, there will be an urgent call made to ensure we can act immediately.
We also have an equipment register to track and ensure equipment is handed back in the same way it was received. It means we know everything is safe – and it takes a lot less time to find things!
Safety wardens consider all situations
I’m a Safety Warden for our office. I’m here five days a week and making sure evacuation processes and protocols are adhered to is critical. We must consider all situations – if someone is anxious, infirm or has a disability, we have to know how to deal with every eventuality and we’re trained to act. There really is a lot of information to digest and action in high pressure situations. I take this role seriously as I’m responsible for people’s lives.
Careful planning returns our team to the Flock
I love booking the surveys. Booking flights and accommodation is a challenge I enjoy, especially for big groups. It’s a huge part of our safety process as the complexities of our team schedules are immense. They might have to fly into one place, catch a charter to another within a certain timeframe or meet another contact in a remote location. And all of these variables are subject to change at the drop of an E2M safety hat. I’m available to support people as and when they need me. At the end of the day, staying back to get the right result keeps people safe. And that’s my priority.
Certifications and training mean we’re safe and fast to mobilise
We do a lot of training here at E2M. So, making sure people’s certifications are up-to-date is an important part of my role, so that we can mobilise for clients quickly and easily and deliver on our promises.
We schedule 4WD driver training, Standard 11 (which enables our people to work on mine sites), white cards, cultural awareness, land access, first aid, vaccinations for animal handling and specific inductions for specific clients to ensure compliance with their needs and different sites. I’m always ahead of the bookings. Knowing our people have the right skills keeps us all safe.