MELBOURNE WATER
John Holland Group & KBR Promoting Safety & Diversity
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John Holland Group ( JHG ) is among Australia ’ s leading contractors and plays a key role in helping Melbourne Water deliver an ambitious capital works program . Mal Shepherd , JHG ’ s General Manager , Water Services praises the efforts made by Melbourne Water to promote a positive safety culture where the workforce is inspired to take ownership of work plan solutions : “ We want to make working safely a habit , not only for John Holland but across the water industry . This requires bridging the gap in our thinking away from more rules and tools , to building capacity in the workforce to be agile , more risk conscious and adapt work plans to suit change in the work environment .”
Addressing the need for diversity in the workforce , Glenn Crisp , JHG ’ s Regional Construction Manager in Victoria , cites the JHG Pathways Program as among the most rewarding experiences in his professional life : “ The energy these people brought to site was more than I expected . We ended up with some very capable and competent engineers that before this were unable to get an opportunity in the workplace .”
JHG ’ s joint venture with KBR has connect with them .”
Looking to the future , the JHG-KBR joint venture and the Safety Focused Performance consortia will compete for the bulk of Melbourne Water ’ s capital works program ( approximately $ 200m / annum ). “ The model ’ s interesting because it ’ s not an alliance but a highly collaborative model within a competitive framework ,” explains Kelly . “ Therefore , in the safety and social procurement spaces , you get both consortia working together and sharing ideas because it helps them attain their KPIs with us . That ’ s what we ’ ve nurtured with them , and they
SEPTEMBER 2019