Rosa Manihera

5.30 AM
Wake up and put on my personal protective equipment (PPE), which consists of high-visibility long sleeves and pants, and safety boots that protect the sole of the foot from scrap metal. I then eat breakfast before I leave for work - I had to train myself to eat this early as my mornings are usually very busy.

6.30 AM
Arrive to work for a 6.30 am start and to attend prestart. Prestart is usually run by the department supervisor, and this is when the team discusses the day ahead. I would usually participate in the discussions and answer questions around safety. The department supervisor advises me what my tasks will be for the day, then I put the rest of my PPE on; a hard hat, and foam back glasses, which protect the eyes from dust (our sites can get very dusty at times!), and I clip some gloves to my belt as I will be handling potentially sharp scrap metal later in the day.

7:00 AM
We always start the day with a SimSafe (this is Sims Metal’s version of a Take 5) which is a personal risk assessment tool used to identify any hazards and controls for my upcoming tasks. The department supervisor advised me that my first task for the day is to assist operating the shredder control tower.

7.15 AM
To access the shredder control tower, we climb approximately five flights of stairs. In the tower, we control the in-feed of the scrap metal that is being fed on a large conveyor belt up into the shredder to be shredded. The shredded metal is then fed out onto conveyor belts for further processing.

9.30 AM
The team stops work and has morning tea ‘smoko’ for about 15 minutes. There is a food van that arrives around 9.30 am where some of the team like to buy morning tea.

9.45 AM
My next task for the morning is to assist in the picking huts in the Offline Recovery Plant (OLRP). The OLRP is a separate plant to the shredder that processes non-ferrous metals (aluminum, copper, lead etc.) by separating and sorting the metals from each other and any waste. In the picking huts we stand at the end of a conveyor belt and pick out any contamination from a line. For example, on the aluminium line, we remove and separate by hand anything that is not aluminum to ensure the end product does not contain anything other than aluminum.If we are not in the picking huts in the OLRP, we will be cleaning the plant. This usually is a rotation of sweeping, shoveling and the use of mobile equipment to remove any built up dust or waste around the plant.

11.30 AM
The whole plant shuts down for lunch time for half an hour. I usually make my lunch the night before or bring in left-overs so that I don’t have to get up extra early to make lunch. There is usually a lunch time van at 11.30 am so we always have the option to buy our lunch if we forget, or want to indulge.

12.00 PM
After lunch I join the General Hand, who observes the shredder and ensures all the conveyors carrying product are running as they should, for the afternoon. If there are any breakdowns or blockages, this is communicated to the team and the shredder is shut down immediately. In order to investigate and unblock and blockages, the operation and maintenance teams meet to collectively plan out how they will manage the blockage. This involves the team completing a Job Safety and Environment Analysis (JSEA), which is a process to identify any hazards and implement control measures for a task such as this which I would participate in. 

2.30 PM
The team usually finishes work at 2.30 pm which I always like as it means I get the opportunity to check my emails or catch up with the EHS Team, or I have the option to head home and enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

After completing my graduate rotations with the various departments across the business I was then able to fully integrate into the EHS team where I learned how to do my role; EHS Specialist. In my role, we usually work from 7.30 am to 4.00 pm and there is a requirement to travel to all five of our sites in the WA region. The EHS (environment, health and safety) function within the business can be very diverse which is why I really enjoy my role; each day is different to the last. On any given day in my role as an EHS Specialist, I cover workers compensation and injury management, incident learnings, inspections, risk assessments, training, document writing (such as policies, procedures and safe work method statements), incident reviews, reporting of data and administration such as record keeping. My rotations around the business gave me a deeper understanding of how Sims Metal operates, particularly from a safety perspective. I was given the opportunity to meet all the team members throughout my rotations, which allowed me to learn everyone’s names and get to know everyone. Establishing these relationships throughout my time as a Graduate assisted me later as an EHS Specialist when undertaking incident learnings or coaching the teams on safety.

Thinking of experiencing life as a Sims Limited Graduate? Sign up to GradAustralia to receive job alerts for Sims Limited.