Winslow continues to be committed to raising the awareness and understanding of the benefits of positive mental health.

We encourage our employees to actively seek help if they need it and have visible mechanisms in place to help guide and support them.

In 2018, Winslow launched Big Blue, our 36-tonne Hitachi ZX360 excavator that was painted blue to be a great conversation starter to encourage anyone who is struggling to reach out and seek support.

After four years of encouraging mental health awareness, Big Blue has just had a fresh coat of paint and will again travel around Winslow sites in Victoria to spread the word on positive mental health and how important it is to ‘Chat and Check-In’ regularly with workmates.

We empower our leaders to guide employees to find support needed as we are all there to support each other.

Our qualified Mental Health first Aiders and Mental Health Champions are site based and are dressed in TradeMutt high vis shirts to ensure they are very accessible, easy to find and a safer option for employees.

October is National Mental Health Awareness month and Big Blue remains a visual reminder to our employees to regularly check in on our colleagues.

Throughout April, Winslow honoured the importance of the health and wellness of our male employees.

Men’s Health Month focused on the importance of good health and positive health practices.

Initiatives included four themes that aimed to improve the physical, emotional, and mental health knowledge of our male workers – Awareness, Education, Prevention, Family. 

We promoted safe, healthy lifestyle choices for our men, and reminded them of the health issues they face and what they can do to take charge of their health.

Men’s Health Month wasn’t just for men – we want women in their lives to learn more too.

We also encouraged our men to share their story about how they have made good choices in personal health practices, with many highlighting changes they had made to lose weight, eat better and improve their mental wellbeing.

We ended the month with Winslow Men’s Health Month physical ‘packs’ with information on common health problems, merchandise, vouchers, and personal skin self-checks. 

All men received special Winslow ‘Be Safe Today’ work socks, which are being proudly worn around our work sites and offices.

Winslow continues to invest in innovation to ensure a safe workplace for our staff, contractors, and clients.

After 18 months of R&D in partnership with machine safety control specialists Webbair and SITECH Construction Systems, Winslow recently unveiled its pioneering 3D Utility Avoidance technology, which will be a game-changer for the industry.

“Winslow has long been leaders in the machine control technology space,” said Hugh Peck, General Manager of Winslow’s Group Services.

“With over 170 smart machines across our fleet, we continue to lead the industry.

“Through Trafman and SMS, Winslow has been able to produce a system that is unparallel in the industry.”

The 3D avoidance technology allows machine operators to dig closely and safely to existing services in complex Brownfield environments, which have been mapped out by our surveying teams.

Onboard sensors and technology restrict and then immobilise the digger whenever the bucket comes close to mapped-out avoidance zones to minimise safety risks and to prevent expensive damage and project delays.

“We control the process from start to finish. We locate the assets, we model the assets, we put them in the machine,” Hugh said.

The system delivers robust engineering controls to keep machines out of any pre-defined high-risk areas and significantly reduces risk of extremely dangerous and costly sub-surface service strikes.

“What we’ve done on this system is we’ve essentially created a digital twin of the existing site conditions, so we’ve got a digital model,” said Survey Management Solutions’ survey specialist Adam Hammet.

“We’ve used that and all our other models to create a real-world digital version of what’s in the ground.”

Operators also receive real-time updates on underground services from surveyors working remotely, which allows work to continue without needing to wait for new data.

“It just gives me the confidence that whatever’s in the ground is on the computer there in front of me. I can literally look through my files, see what I need to know for the day plan out my works, and be reassured I’m not going to do damage or hurt anybody,” said machine operator Bernie Wholey.

Allowing for the operator or supervisor to add in any new hazards or high-risk areas on the fly without requiring them to be defined digitally is potentially one of the biggest benefits of the system, which was demanded from the market at the start of the due diligence phase.

Winslow Infrastructure superintendent Jason Radley said, “it’s an industry leading machine – nobody’s done it in the past”.

“All our known services that we’ve picked up earlier on in the project we can put that into the machine, and it gives us confidence that we can dig new services without actually hitting them, which will also give the asset owners confidence when we go to do our job.”

“They (asset owners) have confidence that we’re going to stay away from their services which is going to keep people in the industry safe and allow them to concentrate on their actual job instead of coming out to fix damaged services.

“It’s going to take us into the future.”

The new fully equipped machine will be rolled out on to its first project at the Lathams Road Upgrade this month.

Winslow Queensland is set to commence work on the Samford Road safety improvements project, which aims to reduce the rate and severity of crashes along the 1.5km section of road.

The $13.98 million project, northwest  of Brisbane, is funded by the Queensland Government's Targeted Road Safety Program, which aims to address known and potential crash locations using high-benefit, cost-effective safety treatments.

This section of Samford Road was identified by Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) for safety improvements due to its high crash rate, which includes over 10 serious injury crashes and one fatality in the last five years of available crash data.

Works will include road resurfacing for a safer, smoother surface, installing additional guardrail for greater protection from roadside hazard, shoulder widening and wide centre line treatment to separate through-traffic and reduce the potential for head-on and loss-of-control crashes.

Drainage improvements will be made as well as raised median and traffic islands, new lighting, pavement rehabilitation and green infrastructure to improve fauna safety.

Next month, our team will also begin work on the Gordon Road and Ferny Way, Ferny Hills - intersection upgrade for City of Moreton Bay.

Safety underpins our business and our success. Safety has always been our highest priority for our people and the communities in which we work.

Last Friday, Winslow Constructors and Energy Safe Victoria united to conduct toolboxes for our North Region team in Melbourne.

Topics covered were compliance and obligations when working around services, overhead and underground power, gas mains and pipelines, and what to do in an emergency.

My Family, My Safety never stops at Winslow.