The Reality: Training is an event. Development is a process. Single-event training produces short-term knowledge gains that decay rapidly without reinforcement.
FEFO helps organisations discover-design-embed learning and development practices. We do this by enabling reflection, reinforcement and application.
The Reality: The knowing-doing gap is not a knowledge problem, it is often related to motivation, identification, habit or environment. More information alone does not close it.
FEFO help close the gap by enabling effective learning.
Research: Kennedy et al. (2004); Pfeffer & Sutton (2000)
Myth 3: Leadership capability is fixed — you either have it or you don’t
The Reality: Leadership is a set of learned behaviours, not a personality trait. Fixed mindset thinking about leadership is itself a barrier to change.
Our Elevated Safety Leadership program is designed to overcome fixed mindsets and enable high performance.
Research: Dweck (2006); Boyatzis & McKee (2005)
Myth 4: One programme fixes it — and completion means it worked
The Reality: Sustained change requires sustained conditions, not a single intervention. Behaviour change is a continuous process, not a destination.
Equally, completion is not transformation. Attendance and quiz scores measure exposure, not change. Behavioural commitments with feedback loops – not certificates, are the real indicators of development.
Our Elevated Safety Leadership program goes beyond the individuals to include systemic human and organisational factors to enable high performance.
Myth 5: Technical safety expertise makes a good safety leader
The Reality: The competencies that produce technical excellence in safety are distinct from, and sometimes in tension with those that make an effective safety leader.
Myths Preventing the RightSafety Leadership Program Design
Myth 6: eLearning is an efficient way to develop safety leadership capability
The Reality: eLearning transfers knowledge and tests compliance efficiently. It does not replicate the social interaction, real-time feedback, psychological safety, and contextual practice that leadership behaviour change actually requires.
Research: COMPASS Model (2024); Specht & Sandlin (1991); Kolb (1984)
Myth 7: Engagement and wellbeing are soft — safety is hard
The Reality: Leaders operating in sustained dissonance – stress, burnout, emotional disconnection – create measurable risk in the people around them.
In safety-critical environments, this is not a culture issue. It is a risk exposure.
Myth 8: Self-directed learning means unstructured learning
The Reality: Self-direction is not the absence of structure; it is the presence of internal ownership within a well-designed framework. Structure and autonomy are not opposites.
Research: Garrison (1997); Zimmerman (2000)
Myth 9: Programme design should focus on what to learn, not how people learn
The Reality: Two programmes covering identical content can produce radically different outcomes depending entirely on how that content is engaged with.
A ‘what’ focus informs leaders. A ‘how’ focus changes them.
Myth 10: Aggregating self-assessments tells us how our safety leaders are performing
The Reality: Self-assessment is perception, not measurement. Aggregating individual self-reports produces a portrait of collective self-perception and not a valid measure of actual safety leadership behaviour across the organisation.
Safety culture in the workplace is not just about compliance; it’s a strategic asset that can significantly impact an organisation’s safety performance and, ultimately, its financial performance 1. A recent longitudinal study has shed light on this interconnection, providing valuable insights for businesses aiming to enhance their safety protocols and financial outcomes.
Overview
The study, conducted over a span of 14 years (2005-2019), analysed data from European companies across various sectors. It aimed to understand the impact of a robust safety culture on safety performance and how this, in turn, affects financial performance.
The findings were clear: companies that invested in comprehensive safety policies, employee training, and safety management systems not only saw improvements in safety metrics but also enjoyed better financial results 2 which is also in line with previous research.345
Safety Culture as a Financial Lever
The research highlighted that safety culture goes beyond mere accident prevention. It encompasses a proactive approach to managing employee relationships in a safe and socially responsible manner. This approach helps in mitigating workplace risks and protecting the company from reputational damage.
A Comprehensive Approach to Safety Culture
The study advocates for a holistic approach to safety culture, considering technological, organisational, and human factors as interrelated elements. Cultivating a culture of safety requires efforts at both individual and organisational levels, integrating safety into various aspects of operations (Bautista-Bernal et al., 2024). For contractor safety, implementing a health and safety policy within the key aspects of the supply chain was deemed most influential.
Organisations with a positive safety culture are characterised by a collective attitude based on collective commitment, risk awareness, collective learning and trust in prevention. These organisations are distinguished by communication based on mutual trust, a shared perception of the importance of safety and confidence in the effectiveness of preventive measures.6
Strategic Implications for Organisations
Organisations are encouraged to prioritise a culture of safety as part of their strategic objectives. The study suggests an incentive-based approach to persuade firms to adopt OHS systems, maintain an employee health and safety team, and develop preventive initiatives to improve safety conditions in the supply chain (Bautista-Bernal et al., 2024), e.g. rather than focusing on injury classification or the absence of harm, recognise what goes right in the presence of effective controls.
So Where to Start?
There are endless options related to prioritising systems, effective teams, and preventive initiatives to improve safety conditions in the supply chain. Why not ask your employee?
FEFO Consulting often utilise the suit of Health and Safety Index Diagnostic (Dx) tools to seek feedback and prioritise strategic objectives. For those organisations not ready for a staff survey, speak to us about our range of Assessment (Ax) tools that can also be applied in an efficient way to support safety culture improvements.
Our targeted approach enables us to partner with organisations to develop strategic Objectives and Key Results (OKR), and tailored deployments that cascade throughout the organisations to add value and support improvements.
Conclusion
This study underscores the importance of safety culture in enhancing safety performance and driving financial success. It provides a compelling case for organisations to invest in safety, not just as a compliance requirement, but as a strategic move that can yield significant financial rewards.
Hajmohammad & Vachon, S. &. (2014). Safety Culture: A Catalyst for Sustainable Development. Journal of Business Ethics. ↩︎
Bautista-Bernal et al., I. (2024). Safety culture, safety performance and financial performance. A longitudinal study. Safety Science. ↩︎
Feng et al., Y. (2014). Exploring the interactive effects of safety investments, safety culture and project hazard on safety performance: An empirical analysis. International Journal of Project Management. ↩︎
Kalteh et al., H. O. (2019). The relationship between safety culture and safety climate and safety performance: a systematic review. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics. ↩︎
Kundu et al., S. (2016). Effects of Safety Climate, Safety Attitude, and Safety Performance on Firm Performance: A Study of an Automobile Firm. International Journal of Biometrics↩︎
Gadd & Collins. (2002). HSL/2002/25-Safety Culture: A review of the literature. Semantic Scholar. ↩︎
FEFO Consulting collaborated with Ventia to deliver 90+ frontline leadership training workshops across their Australia and New Zealand operations, witnessing their commitment to this award-winning workforce initiative firsthand.
Our Directors, Terry Swanton and Amelia Simony are just some of our team that have been involved and were at the Awards in Brisbane to celebrate alongside them. Well done!
Key learning from our team of Facilitators:
Leadership Capability: Start with self-reflection and truly understand you own current strengths
Safety Culture: A high performance culture is built on trust with supervisors and effective leadership
Learning: Don’t stop learning. Seek feedback, relfect and challenge yourself to grow and improve!
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New Team Members
Amelia Simony Associate Director, FEFO Consulting
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Amelia Simony as Associate Director at FEFO Consulting based in Brisbane, Queensland.
Amelia is a passionate advocate for improving safety culture through authenticity and trust. She is an industry-trusted health and safety professional and brings with her a diverse range of health, safety and environment expertise. Amelia will sit on the FEFO Consulting Senior Leadership Team leading our service delivery in Queensland.
Amelia has experience across a diverse range of high risk industry including construction, energy infrastructure, services, intensive agriculture and manufacturing for industry leading companies such as Lend Lease, Alstom, Downer, Teys and Spaceframe Buildings. Her expertise includes WHS and environmental risk management, systems, governance and contractor management. She is a member of the Master Builders Queensland WHS and Environment Policy subcommittees.
Connect with Amelia on LinkedIn or arrange a short video conference meeting by contacting her directly at:
Ally Simpson Copywriting and Marketing Coordinator, FEFO Consulting
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ally Simpson as Copywriting and Marketing Coordinator at FEFO Consulting based in Sydney, New South Wales.
Ally is currently studying a Bachelor of Communications majoring in Writing and Publishing at the University of Technology Sydney. With experience working in mental health advocacy and education, Ally brings her knowledge of health and wellbeing to the forefront of her writing for FEFO’s blogs, social media and newsletters.
Ally reports into the Operations Manager supporting the FEFO Marketing Strategy and Communications Plan.
Ally is passionate about mental health and works as an advocate with Batyr, running educational programs in schools across NSW, as well as teaching youth with disabilities in public schools as a Student Learning Support Officer.
Australian Small Business Champion Award Finalists
FEFO Consulting are excited to announce our latest achievement as Australian Small Business Champion Award Finalists!
With over 4,500 entries into the Australian Small Business Champion Awards, FEFO Consulting is honored to have placed as one of the finalists for the second year in a row.
Additionally, our tool the Health and Safety Index also placed as a finalist. We are looking forward to attending the presentation night on Friday 28th of April 2023 at the Star Event Centre.
A massive thank you to everyone in our team who contributed to this project, we are eager to see what more we can offer our clients and the wider community through the success that comes from this.
Education Piece
SafeWork Australia – Australian Work Health & Safety Strategy 2023-2033
At a glance, one target is to reduce worker fatalities caused by traumatic injuries by 30% and another is to build capability of PCBU’s, regulators and workers to ensure management of psychosocial hazards at work.
To help understand how psychologically safe your workplace is, the Health and Safety Index has developed an organizational assessment tool to help companies understand what’s working well, blind spots and areas for improvement.
To learn more about psychosocial risk, go to our blog to download ‘How to complete a Psychosocial Risk Assessment’ Factsheet.
Terry Swanton and Amelia Simony from FEFO Consulting to deliver a risk-based approach in establishing a Verification of Competency (VoC) program that meets legal requirements and enables effective risk controls and a high-performance culture.
A Verification of Competency or VoC is a method of assessment which typically ensures that workers operating plant, equipment and other tools on work sites remain competent to do so – to keep themselves, others safe and solvent.
Learning Objectives
Understand your legal obligations for VoC, including operator competency vs assessor competency
Understand how to demonstrate due diligence and minimise risk of personal liability – facts vs myths!
List options for taking a risk-based approach for establishing VoC safe systems of work
Gain an understanding of leadership principles and methods of building a high-performance culture
Download 6 Steps to Verification of Competency (VoC) and contact us for training.
Here at FEFO Consulting we have partnered with MATES in Construction, using our complimentary expertise to educate our clients and community on mental health and suicide prevention.
MATES in Construction is a charity established in 2008 aimed at reducing the high level of suicide rates among Australian construction workers. MATES provide suicide prevention through development programs within the community, by supporting workers in need through case management and a 24/7 hotline.
They work across Queensland, New South Wales, The Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.
To learn more about MATES in Construction, contact them here
Dates for the Diary
Hear are a few exciting dates for the diary in 2023!
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Psychosocial Risk
FEFO Consulting collaborated with several partners to deliver a 4-part webinar series of psychosocial risk. These webinars outlined options to identify psychosocial hazards and manage associated risks.
Our expert facilitators provide insights into Health and Safety Index benchmark results, industry trends and a range of psychosocial resources.
Terry Swanton will leading an online training course on Verification of Competency (VoC) fundamental requirements, myths, failures and methods to build high-performance on 31 Jan 2023.
Terry will be sharing learning on:
Material risk
VoC Facts vs Myths
Verifying Competency vs Critical Controls
Compliance vs enabling High-Performance
To download the factsheet “VoC: Shifting from Compliance to High-Performance”, click the button below
FEFO Consulting was recently published in the Institute of Quarrying (IQA) Quarry magazine outlining Chain of Responsibility (CoR) tips. This article focused on ‘Turning Threats into Opportunities’ shifting mindsets from being Compliance focused to effective Leadership.
This CoR article also provides a link to the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI) funding for over $4 million supporting new project to deliver a safer heavy vehicle. Submission close 20 February 2023.
FEFO Consulting is a purpose driven advisory firm. This year we have set ourselves a goal of sponsoring 12 young girls and boys through Plan International. Our sponsorship aims to support their education and to become self-sufficient. If you would also like to get involved click here to donate!
Meet the Team
Senior Leadership Team
FEFO Consulting’s Senior Leadership Team kicked off 2023 with our first strategy session of 2023 and aligned on our metrics that matter.
Firstly, our Senior Leadership Team grew in 2022 and were excited for 2023 and partnering with you. Come meet our Team;
Mark Wright – Managing Director,
Terry Swanton – Director,
Rebecca Crompton – Director and
Rachel Fitzgerald – Operations Manager.
As a business, we believe that setting Objective Key Results (OKR’s) that are both ambitious and verifiable are a great way to effectively support Business Strategy.
If you want to learn more about OKR’s and how they could identify potential opportunities in your business, check out our OKR vs KPI blog.
Leaders’ Summit
Leaders Summit (NZ)
Rebecca Crompton (Bec) is excited to be invited to be an opening speaker at the Health & Safety Leaders’ Summit in Auckland on 27-28 April.
Bec will be expanding on previous Balanced Scorecard OKR vs KPI webinars to outline reliable methods of measuring health & safety performance informed by research and evidence related to resilient performance.
Dates for the Diary
Hear are a few exciting dates for the diary in 2023!
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Webinar Series
Psychosocial Risk Series
This October, FEFO Consulting is partnering with myosh to deliver a series of Psychosocial Risk & Change Webinars. This 4-part webinar series will outline different methods of identifying psychosocial hazards and managing risks.
Our expert facilitators will provide insights into Health and Safety Index benchmark results, and options for identifying hazards and effectively manage psychosocial risks.
4 Webinars:
ISO 45003 vs Model Code of Practice – 19 October
Change Management – Managing Psychosocial Risks – 26 October
Mental Fitness – Opening up Conversations – 9 November
HR vs Safety – Psychosocial Ownership – 16 November
FEFO Consulting was recently engaged by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a global property construction company to deliver a tailored Safety Leadership Workshop in Victoria. This focused on Great Leadership, a core module in FEFO’s Leadership Development Program to build safety leadership awareness and knowledge.
A key feature of this was the Health and Safety Index providing insights to each attendee’s safety leadership via the Self-Assessment tool.
‘Terry and the FEFO team once again delivered this project ‘at speed’ and really catered to the audience’
To learn more about our Leadership Development Program and how we could tailor a safety leadership program AT SPEED for you:
WHS Codes & Information
WHO Guidelines on Mental Health at Work
In September 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently published The WHO guidelines on mental health at work. This guideline provides evidence-based recommendations that cover:
Organisational interventions
Training managers
Training workers
Individual interventions
Return to work
Employment – people living with mental health conditions
The purpose of this guideline is to improve the implementation of evidence-based interventions as well as enable people living with mental health conditions to thrive in work.
To help understand psychosocial hazards and risk management, join FEFO consulting 4-part webinar series on Psychosocial Risk – during October and November partnering with myosh:
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Rachel Fitzgerald as Operation Manager at FEFO Consulting based in Sydney, New South Wales.
Rachel brings a diverse range of operational experience combined with health and safety expertise. She will sit on the FEFO Consulting Executive Leadership Team leading our service delivery and product roadmap strategy.
Rachel’s experience extends across high risk industries including Telecommunications, Construction and Mechanical Services. In her various safety professional roles with a publicly listed company, Rachel delivered safety system improvements projects, national strategic projects across safety and assurance, data insights, solutions and analytic tools, national contractor management system implementation and critical risk control programs.
Training: Leadership Development – contact us to learn more Training: Mental Health & Wellbeing – contact us to learn more Training: Psychological case investigations – contact us to learn more Training: Incident investigations – contact us to learn more
For a Full list of all our training, download our training list below:
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New Code
New Code of Practice vs ISO 45003: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work
In July 2022, SafeWork Australia released new Model Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work. This new Code of Practice outlines psychosocial factors in the workplace:
Contact us to understand more or request a demo of our Psychosocial Diagnostic (Dx) Survey.
OKR’s
Facilitating Safety Strategy with OKR’s
FEFO Consulting was recently engaged to assist a large organisation going through significant growth with a Health & Safety Strategy. This involved a series of site visits and workshops to engage frontline operations in the development of Objectives and Key Results Areas (OKR) and actions for improvement.
We’re excited to enter into a partnership with Australia-based VR specialists, Next World to offer the future of safety training in VR!
Next World is a Virtual Reality (VR) training ecosystem that has developed the world’s first VR Learning Management System (LMS) containing an extensive library of ready-to-go VR training. Next World’s LMS is designed around the unique power of VR, combining game-changing eye tracking technology with immersive, memorable training realities.
Meet our Facilitators! FEFO Consulting have a created a hybrid model of expert leadership facilitators and safety trainers.
Our approach provides a great cross section of talent that can support organisational development, team improvements and individual growth through coaching.
For an overview of our capability training options visit our Training page.
Dates for the Diary
Training: Leadership Development – contact us to learn more Training: Mental Health & Wellbeing – contact us to learn more
Training: Psychological case investigations – contact us to learn more
Training: Incident investigations – contact us to learn more
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Strategy at Speed
Agile Health & Safety Strategy 2022-23
To take advantage of the strategic benefits of speed, organizations need to marry fast strategy to fast execution.
In a tempo-driven organization, everyone’s attention is focused on the strategic Objectives and Key Results (OKR) and how to achieve them effectively at speed.
Grosvenor coal mine explosion in Queensland in 2020
When the strategy goes wrong.
Anglo American’s Grosvenor coal mine explosion in Queensland in 2020 is ultimately attributable to overwhelming production pressures. Underground coal mining is a particularly dangerous activity, requiring delicate engineering judgements to manage a variety of hazards in an ever-changing geological environment. These judgements need to be protected from commercial pressures.
However, Anglo had set production targets and provided incentives to reach and exceed these targets, which inevitably corrupted judgements about how to produce coal safely. The Grosvenor explosion demonstrates how disastrous these targets and incentives can be in highly hazardous environments.
Sacrificing Safety draws on the Board of Inquiry Report into the Grosvenor accident, and also on insights from other hazardous industries, particularly the oil and gas industry. The author was originally appointed to the Board of Inquiry, but withdrew, in circumstances that are explained in an appendix.
On 10 June 2022, Mark Wright Managing Director ad FEFO Consulting was asked to present at the annual Quarrying & Mining Safety & Health Conference in Brisbane co-hosted by the Institute of Quarrying Australian (IQA) and Resources Safety & Health Queensland.
Mark shared learning on Critical Control Effectiveness, making reference to several case studies, international leading practices and simple solutions for developing businesses.
Rebecca’s core capabilities are in strategy, leadership development, management systems, critical risk management, contractor management, and critical incident response.
Rebecca has previously held head of health and safety roles with publicly listed organisations and worked directly with boards and senior executives to deliver simple, targeted initiatives to improve health and safety outcomes.
Rebecca’s experience extends across a diverse range of projects and clients across multiple high risk industries including Construction, Telecommunications, Mechanical Services and Petrochemical.
Dates for the Diary
Training: Develop and deploy an effective WHS Strategy – contact us to learn more
Training: Federal Safety Commissioner Accreditation Tips – contact us to learn more
Training: Mental Health case investigations – contact us to learn more
Training: WHS Director & Officer Due Diligence – contact us to learn more
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Is your health & safety strategy right for 2022-23?
Is your health & safety strategy effective? Do your metrics allow you to learn, adjust and improve?
If either your strategy is wrong or metrics are in effective, there is a good chance there are lost opportunities for success.
FEFO Consulting was recently engaged by a major council to assist with the development and deployment of health & safety strategy.
Our recent blog shared learning from this experience:
OKR vs KPI: Measuring Health and Safety Metrics that Matter
The Objective Results (OKR) approach to setting goals is a great way to effectively support a strategy and has been used at Google, LinkedIn Airbnb, and many more. OKR’s are often complimented by Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
FEFO Consulting recently is introducing new contractor safety assurance services to assist clients with ensuring effective procurement of services. To support these services, we are leading a 5-part webinar series on contractor safety in partnership with myosh. The 5-part webinar series covered:
FEFO Consulting was recently engaged to lead an evaluation of material unwanted events and critical controls across multiple NBN service providers.
One reason for this project was an industry led response to the tragic fatality in 2016 related to a worker completing horizontal directional drilling. To find out more about FEFO Consulting critical control services, refer to our blog or contact us to find out more.
Dates for the Diary
Training: Develop and deploy an effective WHS Strategy – contact us to learn more
Training: Federal Safety Commissioner Accreditation Tips – contact us to learn more
Training: Mental Health case investigations – contact us to learn more
Training: WHS Director & Officer Due Diligence – contact us to learn more
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Are you having difficulty sourcing talent?
In late 2021, FEFO Consulting was approached to help and organisation source talent and mobilise at speed.
Within a 4-week period over the Christmas/New Year shutdown, FEFO Consulting was able to source, mobilise and induct 10 short-term personnel to assist one of the largest employers in the southern hemisphere tackle an emerging risk profile.
We are proud to operate at speed to support changing organisation demands and business outcomes
Refer to our Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) blog to hear more about our services and how we can help with short-term health & safety staff in a very tough labour market.
Building Leadership Talent: Chronic Unease
How to create a healthy sense of chronic unease?
Chronic unease is the feeling of discomfort and concern about the management of risk. Having a healthy level of chronic unease can help identify weak danger signals, reduce complacency, and improve alertness. And just because a catastrophic event hasn’t happened, doesn’t mean it won’t!
Examples of weak danger signals can include:
Unexpected maintenance results
Variations from good practice that has become tolerated
Noticing a colleague is distracted while carrying out a critical process
A decision to carry on that we think was made too quickly.
Check out the above video on more about chronic unease, or contact us to understand how we can help build leadership talent in your organisation.
In addition, FEFO Consulting was engaged by a global services company to deliver three days of safety leadership training after completing the Health and Safety Index to help build targeted capability.
For more information on how we help organisations, teams and individuals measure, focus and act using the Health and Safety Index and facilitated workshops, contact us any time.
Meet the Team
Our team is growing!
Heather Leach recently joined our team to support client demand across Victoria, Australia. Heather has an extensive training and operations background with retail giants Coles and Liquorland.
We value diverse backgrounds and thinking, so Heather was a perfect fit to provide a fresh perspective to our clients and team.
Heather has real life experience, and can empathise with frontline personnel and help provide value and practical solutions.
