Ballance Agri Nutrients has implemented Care Ownership Wellbeing Safety (C.O.W.S.) in response to the spike in the company’s injury rates during the 2017/18 year. COWS is a two-day programme that aims to create a culture of genuine care at Ballance by challenging its people to connect with and personally care about the safety and wellbeing of their workmates.
“If we could create a programme that could bring the care and connection our people shared at home, and within their communities, into our workplaces, then we might just be able to shift our culture, and as such, keep more of our people safe, more often,” said Mark Wynne, CEO.
Through the implementation of the custom-designed, in-house-facilitated initiative, Ballance saw an increase in reporting of lead indicators (near hits, safety concerns, at-risk behaviours), a downward trend in total recordable incident frequency rate, a significant lift in positive behaviours being reported, an increase in the use of the employee assistance programme, and a significant breakdown in silo behaviours and increase in collaboration.