Higgins Coatings recently received re-accreditation with a tri-certification across ISO standards, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to safety, quality, and the environment. Our ISO standards were recognised by Bureau Veritas, a world-leading organisation specialising in Testing, Inspection, and Certification (TIC). Every year, Bureau Veritas sends an auditor to visit several Higgins branches to review the processes in place regarding safety, quality, and the environment.
In May, we were accredited for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001, recognising our continuous efforts to improve our safety, quality, and environmental standards. Over the past few years, National Safety, Health, Environment, and Quality Manager Ben Cook has been the driving force behind our expertise in these areas.
Ben Cook auditing our on-site operations
Ben joined Higgins in 2018 and brought a wealth of experience from Qantas – the aviation industry's gold standard for safety. During his tenure at Qantas, Ben worked as a Manager of Health and Safety within Engineering and carried out internal audits to ensure Qantas maintained its lofty standards. We chatted with Ben to understand how his experience at Qantas moulded his approach to ensuring “everybody gets to go home safely” from Higgins worksites.
Ben noted that despite being in different industries, Aviation and Commercial Painting shared a common risk factor: human error. “Coming to Higgins, I knew it was important to maintain the same lens on safety and consider the behavioural-based principals involved in human error."
By shifting our focus to injury prevention and lead indicators, Higgins has seen a dramatic reduction in long-term injuries (LTIs). “By encouraging the reporting of at-risk behaviours, we have seen a decrease in medical incidents and in turn reduced LTIs, giving our customers peace of mind that their projects will be delivered safely.” While learnings are still shared and toolboxed after incidents – our injury prevention methods have been key in uplifting the safety of our operations.
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Ben Cook with Higgins' contractor safety handbook
Ben acknowledges his predecessors for establishing a secure work environment, noting that "the groundwork was laid with a majority of the necessary work completed. Well-crafted and organised systems were in place – changing behaviours was crucial."
A significant addition to Higgins' safety measures is our communication plan. "Operational communication has changed, and we've realised that emails alone are not enough. We have adjusted our methods to communicate more effectively with our target audiences." Our contractor safety handbook is available in multiple languages, ensuring that non-English speakers can understand and uphold the safety standards on-site.
Ben and his safety team have made sustainability a top priority, focusing on both environmental and mental well-being. In terms of the environment, Higgins has supported Australia's leading food rescue organisation, OzHarvest by providing painting services at several of their facilities including Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. Higgins is also a proud partner of Dulux on their EnviroSolutions Recovery Program, which has already diverted 24 tonnes of plastic waste from landfill by transforming used paint buckets and lids into new Australian-made paint accessories. Collection sites have been set up at six of our branches, and we are committed to adding four more by the end of the year.
Ben Cook and OzHarvest's Alana Roberts at their Port Melbourne facility
Mental health awareness is something Ben has strived to improve at Higgins. "We recognise that painting is typically a male-dominated industry and there’s a stigma attached to speaking about your mental health, but that’s something we’ve looked to reduce."
Ben and his team were responsible for driving our participation in RUOK? Day and Mental Health Month, but their efforts didn't stop there. "We recognised that Mental Health first-aid was the next step in our mental health awareness journey, so we enrolled several of our team members to become Mental Health first-aiders." We have 22 qualified first-aiders located throughout Australia, providing greater support for our employees.
When asked about his goals for safety and sustainability at Higgins, Ben admitted, "There is no finish line. All standards involve continuous improvement – the bar is constantly being raised to achieve zero injuries and zero harm to the environment."
