STORIES
December 5, 2023
@TheCoalface

BLOOMFIELD LEADS THE WAY IN SAFETY

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The Bloomfield Group’s Bloomfield Mine crew have just reached the incredible milestone of 7 years Lost Time Injury Free. Through dedication to identifying and controlling hazards, they are leaders in maintaining a safe workplace.

Bloomfield Mine Operations Manager Brad Donoghoe credited the milestone to the great safety culture among the crew.

“Our crews are tight-knit and they’re experts at what they do. They’re always committed to doing the job right and to prioritising the health and safety of their mates.

“It’s a true credit to them and I’m really proud of what we’ve achieved together,” he said.

In addition to controlling physical hazards, the team has also been focusing on addressing psychosocial hazards in the workplace, utilising a new program Bloomfield has developed called Mentally Safe: Bringing psychosocial hazards into focus.

In October 2022, the NSW Government implemented amendments to the Work, Health, and Safety legislation requiring all workplaces to identify and manage psychosocial hazards.

Psychosocial hazards in the workplace are aspects of work or situations that may cause a stress response, which in turn can lead to psychological or physical harm.

Bloomfield has produced a training video called Mentally Safe – bringing psychosocial hazards into focus. It has been created to help identify psychosocial hazards in the workplace and understand how to manage the risks.

The program brings together three experts in different fields to:

Provide awareness of the legislation dealing with psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
Provide an understanding of the legal responsibilities and accountabilities for managing psychosocial hazards.
Help identify psychosocial hazards in the workplace.
Explore how the hazards may have varying impacts on different people.
Explain how psychosocial hazards may be prevented and managed.

Brett Lewis, CEO of the Bloomfield Group said managing psychosocial hazards is everyone’s responsibility.

“Bloomfield has not only made the Mentally Safe resource available to the entire Bloomfield workforce, but is also sharing the resource free to everyone,” he said.

The Mentally Safe training video is also just one in a long line of health and safety initiatives Bloomfield have introduced in recent years. Others include:

#healthyliving is a holistic wellbeing program that aims to promote a change to, and ownership of, healthy living and provides support to help people understand how their own physical and mental health impacts their wellbeing and safety at home and at work.
My Mindset was a program that was recognised in the NSW Minerals Council Awards in 2022 for putting mental health clearly on everyone’s agenda at Bloomfield.
The Five to Stay Alive is an initiative that focuses on identifying the critical hazards affecting the health and safety of employees and contractors. It helps identify the behaviours and critical controls required to mitigate or prevent poor safety outcomes.

Congratulations to the team at Bloomfield Mine for achieving an incredible 7 years LTI free, and to Bloomfield for its exceptional commitment to the wellbeing of its workforce.