Safety a standout for SUEZ
SUEZ Australia and New Zealand counts more than 2,800 employees across 100 sites, with operations in waste and resource recovery as well as other sectors including wastewater, oil, gas, and biosolids. SUEZ’ safety initiatives, training programs, and goal-orientation, which were all well-received by the judges of the 2019 Workplace of the Year Award, resulting in a spot on the podium as a finalist.
Fundamentally, the SUEZ workplace culture is underpinned by safety initiatives. A National Safety Week held annually, now in its 12th edition, includes the participation of every site and involves activities, training, and celebration of key health and safety risks and successes. Safety updates come quarterly, and informal feedback meetings are held regularly.
Safety standards across the company are continuously monitored and maintained, including through worker-led consultation, and performance measurement. Employees, contractors and other on-site workers also have access to digital, as well as face-to-face, induction programs and other safety documents.
In late 2019 SUEZ’s Perth Seawater Desalination Plant marked off 5,000 days free from lost time incidents, a significant achievement and testament to the culture and practice of safety at the company.
Other ongoing initiatives include the in-house training scheme, Learn@SUEZ. Workshops and programs are held on individual skills (such as business writing or personal branding), team management (such as performance reviews) and specialist skills (finance for non-financial managers or project management fundamentals). Career progression support is also available in the form of mentoring, coaching, and executive development.
In addition, SUEZ’s employee wellbeing program extends beyond counselling to wellbeing coaching, and even financial, legal and nutritional services. The program is accessible to employees and their immediate families.
In recent years, SUEZ has advanced its inclusion policy with four cornerstone priorities: Women in Management, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) participation, Age Diversity, and Employee Engagement. Those areas are targeted with concrete actions. SUEZ’s new parental leave policy recognises primary and secondary carers of all genders and relationship types. Other flexible work practices exist to support employees balance between work with external responsibilities. The inclusion roadmap continues to develop and progress under monthly meetings of diversity and inclusion, and “Women in SUEZ”, councils.
Impact has been real and measurable: the proportion of female management increased from 21% to 24% in just a year, and the 2019 employee engagement survey a chieved a voluntary feedback rate of 85% (well above target).
SUEZ also looks beyond the organisation (which has had an effect on employee satisfaction) and gives back to community by organising beach and community clean-ups as part of its global #SUEZ4Ocean initiative.
Our judges praised the great safety culture at SUEZ, and were impressed that development training covers technical, personal and soft skills. They noted that diversity targets were backed up by real activity and measurable progress.