To celebrate National Safe Work Month throughout October, Australian Industry Group is proud to showcase members committed to creating safe and healthy workplaces.
Chiesi Australia is the Australia-New Zealand division of the Chiesi Group, a global pharmaceutical company based in Parma, Italy, that embraced this year’s Safe Work Month theme of safety: every job, every day when establishing and implementing a new online national WHS system.
“We needed to execute a system and strategy that covered more than 90 employees around the country,” Head of Human Resources and Shared Value & Sustainability Zorina Vlahodimos said.
“Having something that was electronic and accessible for both those in-field and at HQ was a must.”
Ms Vlahodimos teamed with Australian Industry Group Senior Adviser – Work Health Safety Consulting Services Margo Grant for a solution.
“Over the course of our collaboration, we embarked on two significant initiatives: the development of C-Care, Chiesi’s online safety management system and the implementation of a comprehensive psychosocial hazard management strategy,” she said.
Ms Grant says the journey of going digital helps businesses assess what they have in place and gives them an opportunity to remove what is no longer relevant to their operations.
“Using Microsoft 365 software, we develop the entire system for clients, getting rid of outdated processes along the way,” she said.
“Workflows and automated processes that can be done through online safety management systems are the key to working effectively in workplace health and safety.”
When businesses use Microsoft 365, they own their entire online safety management system.
This is particularly helpful for members that are tech-savvy but lack time or WHS expertise to take the digital journey alone.
Ms Vlahodimos is thrilled with the outcome.
“Not only is it an organisational value to ‘go paperless’, online systems are far more accessible and front of mind than those gathering dust in a folder,” she said.
“If anyone identifies a risk, they can go into the C-Care system and log it.
"It's a real-time process. When issues come through, we’re able to quickly assess the situation and determine the appropriate level of attention. We also bring these forward for discussion at our monthly WHS committee meetings to ensure shared visibility and follow-up."
Employee feedback has been positive right from the start.
“We did a soft launch and asked employees to go into the test environment and use their imaginations to develop some creative scenarios,” Ms Vlahodimos said.
“They rose to the challenge! It was really well received. We were keen to demonstrate the ease of using the system and showcase the many risk-mitigation strategies employees can view and consider to prevent an incident from occurring in the first place.
“Things like safety checklists for those driving in rural areas, for example. Taking appropriate rest breaks and the like.
“Bringing safety to the forefront of our people is important to us, and the C-Care system speaks to everyone being valued.”
The next step was building psychosocial safety awareness.
Ms Grant has also been instrumental in this journey.
“Margo ran a series of online sessions during which she talked us through the legislation, carried out a survey and collected the results,” Ms Vlahodimos said.
“Risks were collated and shared with the leadership team. A working committee of about 20 employees was established to further explore these risks.
“Margo then drafted an in-depth risk assessment that gave every employee the opportunity to provide feedback on mitigation strategies.
“It was a six-month journey that was very well thought out. Margo was able to keep everyone engaged and got them to contribute in a way that was highly productive.
“She’s just brilliant.”
Ms Grant said consultation was crucial to successful change management and went far in helping Chiesi embed its new WHS system.
Chiesi’s psychosocial hazard management strategy lives on its C-Care platform.
“It’s a seamless platform that allows any employee — new and existing — to jump on and very quickly get the information they need from a work health and safety perspective,” Ms Vlahodimos said.
“Margo helped us to customise it, enabling us to include what's relevant and park what's not.
“It's a living system and an ongoing process that we’re doing in phases.
“WHS legislation is frequently updated; it's always a moving piece, but at the end of the day, it’s about our people. It’s making sure our people feel safe and supported in both how they turn up for work and when they're at work.
“I believe our work with Australian Industry Group has enabled us to achieve this.”
Ms Grant commended the Chiesi team.
“Chiesi demonstrates an exceptional commitment to safety, which has been consistently evident throughout my time supporting their WHS objectives,” she said.
"Consultation played a pivotal role in the process and helped create solutions that were more practical, relevant and accepted by those affected.
"When people are consulted, they're more likely to feel a sense of ownership over the outcomes.
"It builds trust between leadership and staff.
"Consultation does not have to be complex; even small consistent efforts to involve people can lead to meaningful improvements," Ms Grant said.
Australian Industry Group offers a range of WHS Consulting Services to help you practically manage WHS matters in the workplace. Find out more here.
Members can also register to attend our WHS Connect Roadshow, half-day events for WHS professionals to come together, share insights and explore best-practice solutions to today's safety challenges.
The roadshow will take in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney during the month of October. Contact Andrew Campbell for more information.
Wendy Larter is Communications Manager at Australian Industry Group.
A former journalist for newspapers and magazines including The Courier-Mail in Brisbane and Metro, the News of the World, The Times and Elle in the UK, she is passionate about giving businesses a voice.
