Safety First: Anthea’s mining journey
We sit down with Health and Safety Advisor – People, Safety and Health at Batchfire Resources, Anthea Boyd, whose military background and commitment to safety translates to a more productive workplace at Callide Mine.
Anthea’s Callide Mine journey started just three years ago, bringing her safety-focused army medic skillset and values to the mining industry. It wasn’t long before she joined the Emergency Response Team (ERT), putting her money where her mouth is as a champion of safety at Callide Mine.
“I don’t have a huge amount of experience on a mine site, because I’ve only been here at Callide for a bit over three years,” Anthea said.
“But I think there’s a lot of cross-over in skills between military experience and what we do here at the mine. I’ve also dealt with a few of our New to Industry (NTI) ex-defence workers, with many of them also joining up to the ERT, and you definitely see the values those people uphold crossing over.”
Of course, despite her ERT involvement, Anthea reiterates that the end goal in her role as a key safety advisor is to avoid needing to perform a rescue at Callide Mine.
“That’s why I do the job that I do in the safety department, to put in all the systems, processes, procedures and preventative, so we don’t get to that point,” she said.
“It’s also about that follow-through, when if we do have an incident or, you know, something that doesn’t go so well, then we’ve got that rescue capability, and everybody’s got the correct and adequate training to be able to deal with that in the best possible way we can.”
Anthea’s advice for the workers thinking about joining the ERT is that it’s about serving the community rather than financial gain.
“I think the type of person that would put their hand up, or should put their hand up for that sort of thing, is doing it for reasons around community service,” she said.
“It’s not for fun, it’s not for financial gain, rather, we do it because we’re we want to be able to assist in a situation where somebody else might not be having such a great day.
“But there’s also an element of esprit de corps and teamwork within each of the rescue crews as well. I’m actually really lucky, because I work Monday to Friday, I cross over all the crews. Oh, cool. I get to be a team member for all the crews, not just one crew!”
Beyond her extensive role at Batchfire Resources, Anthea also assists with training high school age Army Cadets on a patch of land near Callide Mine, hosting weekend Bivy camps that include navigation exercises, field craft exercises, first-aid and more.
“So, we utilise parts of Batchfire owned land a little bit further along the public Coal Road from the mine, and we head out for the weekend to perform exercises and training,” she said.
Anthea’s family share her hardworking attitude and commitment to the community, too, with her son and husband also serving in the Australian Defence Force (ADF). In fact, her daughter is currently in the process of enlisting in the ADF, with hopes to drive tanks!
“Service is definitely something that a lot of people these days undervalue, in terms of what it means to serve the community, but while the rewards may not be tangible or financial, you get plenty of other rewards through serving,” she said.
In closing out our chat, Anthea took the time to acknowledge the other members of the ERT whose hard work and dedication helps keep the Batchfire Resources workforce safe.
“I think, you know, from a female perspective, it’s not traditionally something in which we got involved. I definitely would like to acknowledge the female members’ contribution in the ERT, as well as all rescue members.”
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