Tim - The Mine Production Team Supervisor

"My car is my office."

Tim scored his job 9/10 (ten being the most enjoyable job you can imagine).

by Daniela Andrei

Tim is a production supervisor working for a mining construction company operating in South Australia. He runs a team of 14 – 15 people whose responsibility is to get the blasted dirt from the shop crew, load it into trucks and transport it to destinations on the mine site, as required by clients. In his role, Tim is in charge of organizing the pre-shift information sessions and handovers, as well as allocating operators to machines, running audits and safety inspections on all the working areas, and fatigue observations. He also attends daily planning meetings, fills in paperwork and acts as a “one-stop shop” for any issues that the people he supervises might experience.

"Anything associated with my people comes to me! Even if they want to go and see my supervisor, they’ll come to me and then I have to arrange the meeting! If I can’t deal with it, then I’ll take it further!

At the beginning of the week we have a plan and that can change, so that is the frustrating bit! Because I’ve started on this plan, I’ve set up here, but then I have to go and set up somewhere else!"

The Challenges of a Demanding Job

The interview with Tim focused mostly on challenges experienced in this very complex demanding job. Particularly challenging for Tim are the frequent changes in the operating plan, sometimes without any prior notice, that reduces overall role clarity and the ability to plan work in advance for his team. Furthermore, the fact that he operates as a “one-stop shop” for his employees leads sometimes to qualitative role overload, as he is expected to deal with all things related to his workers, as varied as HR issues, payroll, disputes, uniforms, and leave requests. Last but not least being physically away from family can negatively impact the work-life balance, but Tim reports that the extended off work time compensates for that together with the financial retribution for these kinds of roles.

Preventing psychological injury in the care sector - SMART Design for Care virtual launch

How can we leverage work design as an intervention to reduce/prevent psychological injury in the NSW Healthcare & Social Assistance (H&SA) Industry?

This crucial question underpinned the fascinating and informative presentations at our Design for Care virtual launch. This online event introduced attendees from predominately NSW-based H&SA workforce to our exciting new research project, Design for Care. Funded by icare NSW, the project is a consortium of partnership between the Centre for Transformative Work Design at Curtin, The University of Sydney, and Monash University.

Our keynote speaker, ARC Laureate Fellow Professor Sharon Parker, Director of the Centre for Transformative Work Design and lead Design, highlighted the need for organisations to shift their focus to the full spectrum of mental health, beyond mitigating employees’ mental ill health, to taking active steps to prevent mental ill health. Using the SMART Work Design model, the research team will explore ways to design better work as a preventative strategy and to reduce psychosocial risks, with a focus on employees in the NSW H&SA industry.

We also heard from our industry partners: Karn Nelson (Whiddon), Jacky Hopwood (Whiddon) and Paula Holden (Key Assets) about their experiences and challenges in the H&SA Industry, and why their organisations have chosen to participate in the Design for Care project. Raashi Kumar (icare NSW) highlighted that icare have funded this project to help reduce psychological injury in the H&SA industry.

Towards the end of the launch, we had the pleasure of hearing from Associate Professor Anya Johnson and Associate Professor Helena Nguyen from the University of Sydney. Together, they unpacked the PARRTH process which underpins the Design for Care research project and introduced the Design for Care Community of Practice initiative.

We are keen to connect with enthusiastic and willing partners within the H&SA industry that are insured by icare NSW to participate in our research. For more information and to express interest in participating in the Design for Care project, head to our webpage or email us.

The Power & Science of Social Connection

Ever wondered about the neuroscience behind the positive emotions you feel when you connect with someone socially?

This TEDx talk is by Emma Seppälä who is a Ph.D., Science Journalist & Author, and the Associate Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University