The financial and social benefits of addressing safety at client sites are numerous, if recruiters are prepared to stand their ground and escalate concerns when faced with pushback, says Chandler Macleod head of safety Quentin Hearn.

Chandler Macleod received the McLean Award for Workplace Safety at the recent RCSA Gala Ball, and Hearn told Shortlist the company has shifted from an inward-looking safety culture to an outward focus, extending to clients' sites, cultures, and safety processes and policies.

"We do get pushback, but the reality is that every one of our clients have senior leaders who are officers of a company, and as an outward-looking company, if we see hazards in a client workplace that affect their employees, as well as ours, we're duty bound to tell that officer about those conditions," he said.

"We would expect the same if someone came into our business and highlighted things that we were missing... We feel obliged to let our clients know, firstly, that there is an issue and secondly, that we may have a solution, because being in this industry we see a wide range of [other] industries and a wide range of safety experiences, and we learn a lot from that, and often we can help our clients overcome difficulties that they either know or don't know about."

CMG will also escalate concerns within client businesses if company representatives are unwilling to discuss a safety issue, and has walked away from accounts when these concerns are not resolved, said Hearn.

"Some people might feel that's a risk to the business relationship [but] we regard it as something we must do, because we have seen a hazard in a workplace," he said.

"Irrespective of the fact that it's our employees or their employees, we're morally obliged to try and resolve that, and in the vast majority of cases when it's explained in that way to a client they accept it."

Clients don't want suppliers bringing more risk into their business, so a reputation as a low-risk operator also gives recruitment companies a commercial advantage, said Hearn.

"Chandler Macleod doesn't have plant or equipment, it doesn't have infrastructure of buildings – all we've got is people, and if we can't look after their safety, well we shouldn't be in business. It's as simple as that. People are our only asset and so we have to look after their safety," he said.

"If you think about people's safety first, the financial gains come after, because if you are concerned about someone's wellbeing and people being injured that immediately makes you low risk, [and] that makes you more attractive and you can probably ask for more margin."

Many companies, however, see safety initiatives as another expense on their balance sheet, rather than something that will save money, said Heard.

"There are always financial imperatives in a business, and sometimes it's difficult for the financially minded people to see a clear link between safety and profitability, but it doesn't take much to realise that the cost of injury can strip a lot off your bottom line," he said.

"You're investing for an actual return, and the return is fewer injuries, more profit. It's called safety capital. You invest this safety capital into your business and it will give you returns, if you spend it wisely."

CMG moves away from LTIFR

CMG, which has 22,000 contractors working on more than 7,000 client sites on any given day, has also changed the way it measures safety in the past 12 months, shifting its focus from Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate to Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate.

"If a serious injury comes through but it's managed in such a way that the employee doesn't lose a shift technically then that's not an LTI," said Hearn.

"For us, it's not about the category – it's the injury, and by going to Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate, rather than Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate, we're actually capturing all those injuries and categorising [them] as serious.

"Any injury that requires medical attention now is captured and therefore focused on. If you get the metric wrong, you don't get the full picture."

Align safety behaviours with systems

CMG is also pursuing international safety accreditation and expects to achieve this standard by August, said Hearn.

"To get to this position it takes years of continuous improvement of your system, and... continuous improvement of behaviours, because one doesn't survive really well without the other. You only get a maximum result when systems and behaviours are aligned," he said.

This behaviour is modelled from the top, with each member of CMG's leadership team personally conducting one client safety visit each quarter, and the company also ensures its 1,300 direct employees undertake rigorous training, said Hearn.

"From the moment people are inducted into this business internally to become recruiters that personal safety message is the first thing they get... and by understanding about their own personal safety they then link that to the people they're sending out into workplaces," he said.

"It's not just about process and compliance. It's about behaviours, insights and understanding about why it's important to do these things. You've got to tell them about why it's important to follow safety process, not just tell them to do it."

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