In May 2009 Michael Shenton, Manager of BHP Port Hedland Sustaining Capital, engaged the Barbaro Group to provide Training, Workshops, Mentoring, and Coaching, to develop the capability, efficiency and effectiveness of PHSC department and individual team members.
The brief included the development of high performance and highly effective teams.

In May 2009 the PHSC group comprised of approx. 27 persons and managed a Capital Budget of approx. $50m. The PHSC Team was expanded and developed into a highly efficient team so that in FY11 the team composed of 110 persons and executed a total budget of S350m.

(Sustaining Capital S200m, Maintenance Projects $50m, RGP Projects 5100m)

Due to the Training and Strategies developed and delivered by the Barbaro Group the PHSC Group out performed all other Sustaining Capital Groups within BHPB10.

Each year PHSC delivered the projects contained in the Annual Sustaining Capital Budget something previously never successfully executed by any BHPBIO SC Group.

The training delivered by Barbaro Group resulted in a very high performing team where every single member took accountability for their own performance.

They were authorised to make decisions and deliver the projects effectively, they worked extremely well as a team and group, they took pride in their work and had very high ethical standards, they were empowered to review the process and make improvements to efficiency, they also had input into the recruitment process and who they admitted to their team.

The concept of the high performing Team resulted in a continuously evolving business centre which engaged the team and empowered the team. Each person was encouraged to consider themselves working in their own business which motivated high performance, self-management, and responsibility for their own segment of the business process.

Functional Safety Leadership (FSL)

FSL is aimed at those who have traditional leadership and safety adviser roles in the organisation. Specifically, FSL requires leadership to regularly visit the workplace, to engage the workforce in conversation and encourage their greater participation and safety commitment. This capitalises upon the authority vested in line leadership and the influence they have by way of their role model and the standards they set for themselves and their direct reports.

The purpose is to facilitate the greater visibility of leadership’s commitment to safety and influence the safety behaviours of the workforce. When there is an alignment in behaviour then Leadership will close their discussions with a clear commitment (sometimes called a verbal contract) with the member, to which the member can be held accountable in the future. The leader would also look for areas to praise, in order to reinforce good behaviours. This type of program relies heavily upon the leadership/’s ability to approach and address their workforce in an open, non-threatening and respectful manner.

The priority in introducing a FSL to the company is to influence the culture to be in line with sustained safe performance.