International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) was celebrated this year (23 June) by WesCEF with a special lunch with guest speaker, Sharon Warburton, a Wesfarmers Board Director.
Organised by the HR and Corporate Affairs team, the lunch was hosted by General Manager HSEQ & Tech Services, Julie Watson, to recognise the talent and diversity of our people, and in particular, the women in our workforce who are (or were) engineers.
More than 40 team members attended the event, held in the Murdoch Training Room, where Julie chatted to Sharon in an informal information session followed by a panel of our own engineers talking about their experiences with safety or inclusivity.
Making all types of safety a focus point in workplaces
Given this years’ INWED theme was Make Safety Seen, Sharon also shared her views on safety in the workplace and the value of a well-managed, safe workplace and how this has evolved over the last decade.
“We need to aim to define and create the right culture of challenging process and questioning procedures – ask the question; how do we do something that ensures it’s a safe process?
If we don’t take time to do this, that’s when corners are cut and risk is created. On site visits and in meetings, I’ll ask about safety often. I try to make it real – when I talk about safety culture – I aim to have a real connection, draw an analogy so that safety and risk can be explained clearly, so that people can connect. And it’s important to keep open communication lines. Keep talking about safety all the time.
We’ve expanded ‘what is safety’ in the last decade. It started with physical safety, and now it’s so much broader – mental, physiological, wellbeing, psychological and physical and how this affects people at work and at home.”
“I still sense that I am being asked to fill a gender gap on a Board – so this tells me we aren’t there quite yet. We still have a long way to go in this space. I actively choose roles where I know I will contribute what is needed, not because they need me as a gender tick. My goal is, when I’m considering these Boards or Directorships opportunities, to ensure that I’m there because they want me to bring my expertise, skills, styles of thinking and knowledge that I bring to the role.”
Maintaining a culture that is diverse and inclusive of skills, knowledge and diverse thought.
In terms of diversity and inclusion, Sharon agrees there is greater representation in workplaces now, in schools, university and across management levels. She said it’s part of many business strategies to improve diversity, but this will take time to come together.
She feels she’s been very fortunate so far with her experiences, but it has at times been marred by gender ‘box ticking’, and as such, she still does her own research on opportunities that come along to ensure she aligns with the opportunity being presented to her.
“I still sense that I am being asked to fill a gender gap on a Board – so this tells me we aren’t there quite yet. We still have a long way to go in this space. I actively choose roles where I know I will contribute what is needed, not because they need me as a gender tick. My goal is, when I’m considering these Boards or Directorships opportunities, to ensure that I’m there because they want me to bring my expertise, skills, styles of thinking and knowledge that I bring to the role.”
Joining us for a panel discussion on safety and inclusivity were Belinda Weggelaar,a Despatch Supervisor with the AAN business, Delight Mwenje a Graduate Mechanical Engineer from the SCN Operations team and Anton Vojkovic, CSBP Fertilisers Operations Manager.
Belinda suggested days like INWED highlighted not only the need for more engineers in general as a growing in-demand field, but the need for women in engineering for what they bring to the field.
She said being able to retain women in these roles is another area to focus on, from a gender-balanced interview process through to career progression and life choices – and the need to support women in the workplace.
Anton is a big believer in ‘leading by example’, supporting women and being an ally, a mentor and a supporter of personal growth. It’s not just ‘treating everyone the same’ that does the job, it’s about tailoring the experience to suit an individual to the best outcome for that person. In addition, it’s also about challenging team members, encouraging them to move away from comfort zones so they can aim higher. That’s when we achieve true diversity and inclusion.
As Delight is relatively new to WesCEF and also to engineering as a graduate, she said that safety at WesCEF is much bigger than ‘a safe work environment’. It’s about ensuring people feel comfortable enough to talk about safety – feeling ‘safe’ enough to call out hazards and stopping immediately if a risk is presented.
This membership allows for networking opportunities and knowledge sharing with the goal to support women in achieving career goals, as well as encouraging and supporting businesses in gender balance and workplace inclusivity at all levels of operations.
