Safety, health and wellbeing

Our commitment to the safety, health and wellbeing of our people and our communities is expressed in strong leadership, engagement with our workforce and stakeholders, and a continual focus on identifying and managing risks.

Safety, health and wellbeing is fundamental to Downer as a capable and thriving workforce is key to delivering operational excellence.

Management System

To drive consistency and efficiency, Downer has integrated our ISO 45001 certified health and safety management system into The Downer Standard (this also meets Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner requirements, and maintenance audits). Through this integrated approach, Downer has also delivered greater collaboration and stronger relationships between corporate functions and operational Business Units. The Downer Standard provides our people with aligned, unified processes and information. This supports Downer’s compliance with relevant work, health and safety law. The system is managed by professionals with expertise in risk management, health, safety and environment and relevant law. 

The system applies across the Downer business, with exceptions for joint ventures and when a customer system is utilised rather than Downer’s management system. In those circumstances a review of the management systems occurs to determine the highest levels of risk control, which are then implemented. For Downer controlled works, our management system applies to some service delivery partners (depending on the nature of the work, and contractual arrangements). We collaborate with our customers and contractors to deliver strong safety performance on our projects, and openly share our expertise and risk management approach. We deliver outcomes from critical risk analysis and control advancements on our projects and with our customers and industry.

The principles of our approach to are captured in our safety, health, and wellbeing related policies (for example, Health and Safety Policy, Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy and Fitness for Work Policy). For health and safety, our management system content describes how risk can be eliminated or must be managed and what should be in place for work to be conducted safely. It also has information for how risks need to be managed, how hazards can cause injury, and how to prevent it. Our management system and our compliance with its requirements are regularly audited by regulatory authorities, independent auditors and customers. Continuous improvement of the system is managed through direct feedback and through:

• Communities of Practice, 
• Changes to legislation or standards
• Lessons learned from industry or incidents
• Emerging trends or issues.

Health and wellbeing services

Downer has taken positive steps over five years to change the conversation around mental health – reducing the stigma attached to it, empowering our people with strategies and activities that support their mental health and wellbeing, and helping our people to assist and support workmates. Downer’s investment in mental health is helping to develop a more open culture around discussing mental health maintenance, challenges and accessing care and support,. It also supports awareness that health and wellbeing is an important aspect to keeping our people and our communities safe. A key element of this strategy is widespread training of accredited Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) across both Australia and New Zealand. Our mental health training performance is linked to Downer’s Sustainability Linked Loan, which demonstrates our commitment to promoting good mental health and wellbeing over the long term.

Injury prevention remains a critical part of improving our employees’ physical wellbeing. If an employee feels discomfort, Downer supports and encourages them to access healthcare services proactively before an injury occurs. Where an injury has already occurred, Downer’s injury management specialists support the employee to return to work at their own pace from both work-related and non-work-related injuries and illnesses and support the physical wellness of our workforce through a range of programs and initiatives. 

For more information about our approach to safety, health and wellbeing, please see the following links.