HSE Community Insights - Alison De Araugo
Page Published Date:
May 28, 2021
Alison De Araugo – Head of Health Safety & Wellbeing at Estia Health
Alison is senior health and safety leader with experience across a diverse range of industries, with a passion to improve health and wellbeing outcomes and drive sustainable business performance. An engaging and collaborative leader who enjoys building strong partnerships and effective teams.
What do you think the 3 biggest opportunities that the HSE profession are faced with in the constantly changing world of work?
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world of work is significant and far reaching for many industries. The pace of change is unlike anything we have seen before and the challenge for the health and safety profession is to be agile and work at pace. It has also raised the profile of health and safety and highlighted the value the role can bring to an organisation and as a profession we need to seize that opportunity.
We also need to be alert to how we as a profession evolve with the changing world of work and be enablers for positive change that can make a difference to not just safety performance, but business performance.
Addressing the increasing psychological risks and mental illness requires holistic and systematic approach across an organisation. The health and safety profession is well placed to influence this, however, to do it effectively requires collaborative partnerships across people functions, with mental health experts and strong consultation with operations.
What are the top 3 capabilities required in your view for success in the future?
Being able to build strong and collaborative partnerships and really understand your business so that you can influence meaningful change and deliver programs that are effective.
Ability to design for the end user and make safety simple – always consider, how does this help our people to be safe.
Innovation and being able to bring new ideas to an organisation and not only from within your industry – but looking further afield. Be curious!
Looking back over your career, if you could change one thing, what would that be?
Some of my best learning and growth has come from experiences where things did not go to plan. It is important to recognise that you don’t always need to have the answers.
What is innovative about the organisation you are working for?
Working in Aged Care the past 12 months has been predominantly focussed on our COVID-19 pandemic response and the Royal Commission. The industry is facing significant workforce challenges that do impact on safety. It is exciting to be part of a broader people and culture team who are working collaboratively on a number of innovative ways to address the workforce challenges that we face now and into the future.
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