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Essential infrastructure services provider Ventia teamed up with the Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner to launch a new mobile plant safety campaign dubbed Heavy Metal.
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Launched in October, the campaign includes an array of engaging resources to educate workers on safe working near mobile plants or machinery. Resources include toolbox talks, site posters and a series of interactive 360-degree blind spot micro e-learning packages.
According to the company, a mobile plant includes machinery, equipment, or vehicles used in construction.
Ventia delivers 900,000 maintenance hours annually on large Defence equipment, including armoured vehicles, trucks and earthmoving equipment, placing safety at the core of Ventia’s culture.
“Our Heavy Metal safety campaign supports our ongoing commitment to elevating safety standards across Ventia and industry,” Dean Banks, Ventia group chief executive officer, explained.
“As employers, we should embrace innovative and strategic thinking to find effective solutions [that] eliminate the need for mobile plant and people interfaces.
“Where this is not possible, we must look for the safest and most efficient plant for the job and apply the ‘hierarchy of controls’ to prioritise the separation of people from plant.”
To Banks, every Ventia employee and subcontractor must prioritise a culture of safety: “It is everyone’s responsibility to be vigilant and keep themselves and others a safe operational distance from plant.”
“We should be aware when ‘Heavy Metal’ is nearby and always adhere to designated exclusion zones.”
Heavy Metal was launched in line with National Safe Work Month in October.
In October, the infrastructure services provider revealed that it had secured a 12-month extension of their Base Services contract with the Department of Defence.
The contract extension is scheduled to commence in July 2024 and is valued at an estimated $550 million.
Originally announced in late October, the contract will cover estate management, living services and base support capability.
Services are set to include asset management and maintenance, ranges and training area management, airfield management, land management and environmental services, project management, hospitality and catering, domestic services and transport services.
The contract spans Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Tasmania.
