“We kill people, Gavin. This industry STILL kills people.”
I appreciated the typical directness of Jim Cooper, General Manager of Operations at Christmas Island Phosphates. There was an earnest edge to his voice that was a stark reminder of the weight of responsibility carried by leaders in high-risk industries.
I continue to write about Actualises’ conversations with high-level leaders because these are discussions we all need to have.
“We talk about safety so much because of the tragic reputation our industry has. We’ve been killing people. People don’t like to hear it, but it’s a fact” Jim continued.
Every year, preventable deaths and life-altering injuries occur on sites across the state, the country, and the world. And yet, the words we all use – compliance, incidents, regulations – can soften the blow. The stark reality? It’s brutal.
From boardrooms in Perth to crib rooms in the Pilbara, safety is more than a priority—it must be an obsession.
The best leaders like Jim create safety conversations every single shift. They foster cultures where speaking up is not just accepted but the norm. Where hazards aren’t just noted in a meeting but eliminated before they become tragedies.
And they engage in the best leadership development consultants to strengthen the commitment and further develop the relationships because “things” just don’t happen, it’s the people that make it happen. We need to focus on developing on bringing out the best in people working with their teams and valuing and applying the systems and processes to reliably deliver safe work.
Complacency is an unaffordable luxury. As Braden Dunsmore, a leader at Wyloo, puts it, “I still feel that the piece around critical risks, is that if they go wrong, they will kill people”.
No matter the location—whether in the Goldfields or Ghana—it’s about keeping people alive.
Let’s be clear: safety failures aren’t just operational failures. They are failures of culture and leadership.