Chairman’s Awards – Finalists’ stories

As we countdown to the second Chairman’s Global Excellence Awards, the SPOKE team takes a look at some of 2022’s finalists. See the complete list of finalists here.

A total of 205 nominations poured in from 34 individuals and 171 teams spanning across 10 countries. This year marked the inaugural participation of our colleagues from Poland and the UAE, bringing their unique perspectives to the global stage.

Among the various categories, it comes as no surprise that “Change – Evolution” emerged as the most popular category, closely followed by “Small Project, Big Change.” The calibre of entries truly exemplified the transformative power of change, while underscoring the impact even the smallest initiatives can make on a grand scale.

Showcasing Extraordinary Talents: A glimpse into some of our Finalists

SPOKE presents a selection of finalists who have demonstrated their exceptional skills, dedication, and unparalleled commitment to excellence. Stay tuned, as we dive deeper into the teams behind some of these inspiring stories and achievements and meet the people who made it happen.

LIBERTY – Ostrava – Oxygen Injection to Rolling Mills Furnaces

Sustainability – CN30

We speak to Jiří Pyš, Pavel Šonovský, Jan Pudich, Davis Božoň, Tomáš Janša from LIBERTY Ostrava on their work being recognised as a finalist in the Chairman’s Awards and what they have learned along the way.

1. How do you feel to have your work recognised as a finalist in the Chairman’s Award?
   We are very proud that our project from Ostrava has been shortlisted and made it through the tough competition of other 204 projects from GFG. It’s real recognition of all the Ostrava technical teams.
2. Tell us about the impact of your work?
   As per current difficult market situation the project will help us utilise “free” oxygen and reduce operation costs. Lower energy consumption is key for costs saving and to become carbon neutral.
3. Key takeaway you have learned working on the project? After detail investigation oxygen utilization was also extended for oxygen injection to hot blast stoves. This project has the highest priority as per costs calculation now.

InfraBuild Steel NSW – Sydney Steel Mill Meltshop Caster Mould Life Improvement

Change – Evolution

The billet casters pour molten steel into precision-made copper moulds, causing a frozen steel skin around a liquid core of the continuous strand (like that frozen shell that forms around ice cubes in your freezer). Sydney Meltshop identified an opportunity to save on these high-cost consumable moulds, and reduce caster downtime for change-outs. Over the past 5 years, ongoing efforts have been made by multiple people to improve the mould life, using the structure and rigour of a Six Sigma project.

We feel proud, honoured and excited for our improvement project to be selected as a finalist in the Chairman’s awards. To be recognised by the business for the effort and results we have achieved is excellent. To be a finalist in these awards is all the more special, knowing it is the largest number of nominations from across the globe.

Paul Vielhauer

The improvement in Mould life took over five years to achieve and included subtle changes along the way that gave ever increasing results. The journey took us from an average life of 160 heats per mould tube to over 1000. Today, even after changing Mould sizes from 127mm top 130mm we are seeing mould lives averaging about 1000 heats. We have dropped our yearly consumption of mould tubes from 120 making less tonnes to 30 at our current production levels.

Key take away from this improvement project would be to use data and good measurement tools to understand the current situation. Then start exploring opportunities for improvement. Develop a good network and obtain as much information from a variety of sources to find what works for others that can be trialled. This can be other Steelmakers, suppliers and also listen to the people using the equipment for improvement ideas. They are all valuable sources of information.

Stay focused on the end game and drive for results.

GFG Alliance – Sustainability Through Respectful Engagement 

Sustainability – Social

Australia is home to the oldest continuing living culture in the world. However, since the colonisation of Australia by European settlers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experienced extreme hardships, ranging from the loss of traditional culture and homelands to the forced removal of children and denial of citizenship rights.

In and around Whyalla, GFG operate on the traditional lands of the Barngarla people.    

This program is focused on building and strengthening trusted and ongoing relationships with the Barngarla people, Native Title Owners and Traditional Custodians on the land on which we operate.

A range of opportunities to further engage with these key stakeholders in meaningful and sustainable ways was assessed and this program aimed to increase our profile and commitments in relation to indigenous engagement and relationships.

As GFG continues to grow and develop its mining and steelmaking activities it is important to look beyond regular engagement types to gain the support of all of the communities in which we operate.

The team sought to raise the quality and depth of our engagement with the indigenous community, as well as improve internal engagement to raise awareness of indigenous heritage values and the importance of connection with country for first nations peoples.

A strong respectful relationship with First Nations people is essential as part of broader social licence to operate for our mining and steel operations and developments. Our broad approach of support, collaboration, sponsorships, engagement and relationship building is aimed to achieve a respectful partnership with the Barngarla people. The whole program of respectful and strong indigenous relationships is centred on social sustainability, which in turn provides the further benefits of economic sustainability. Lastly, this program works closely with First Nations people who are traditional custodians of the land on which we operate.

GFG Alliance Journey to Zero – Global and consolidated approach to Safety

Category – Family, Safety

1. What does being a finalist mean to you?
We’re incredibly proud to be selected as a finalist for the Chairman’s Global Excellence Awards. We feel honoured to be recognised for the impact that our Global Safety Network has had on improving safety in GFG. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team members who have worked to develop and participate in this community of safety people from around the world. We look forward to continuing to enhance and expand this influential forum we have established.

2. Tell us about the impact of the work

Over 40 safety professionals make up the Global Safety Network, which has played a key role in gathering and promoting knowledge-sharing and learning among GFG businesses. The network has been conducting quarterly safety forums since its inception, enabling the exchange of best practices and the sharing of key learnings from incidents. Additionally, the network has been involved in the creation and implementation of Safety Connect, critical risk standards, Life Savers, and the Be GFG Safe Way. The network has also established a process for sharing knowledge and experiences regarding critical incidents within the group. This is done to increase awareness and prevent similar incidents from happening again, with over 200 safety alerts shared so far.

With a network of capable and efficient safety professionals who work collaboratively to promote the “Be GFG Safe” campaign, we are continually promoting the Be GFG Safe vision to make sure everyone returns home safely at the end of each workday.

3. What has been the main lesson your team has learned working on the project

Developing and implementing our Global Safety Network has taught us that collaboration and communication are critical to success. Our network members are often facing the same challenges and situations, and we can leverage this by simply connecting with each other and exchanging our knowledge and experience to improve safety in our workplaces and that of our colleagues.

Safety Connect – InfraBuild

Category – Family, Safety

1. How do you feel about reaching the finalist stage?
   As a finalist in the Chairman’s Global Excellence Awards for our Safety Connect program, we feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment. Safety Connect is a behavioural safety program that we developed to help our team members stay safe and look after each other while on the job. We are thrilled that the program has been recognised for its impact and effectiveness. It was a significant undertaking to develop and implement Safety Connect at a global level, and we are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our team members who made it possible.
2. Can you talk about the impact of this work?
   So far, Safety Connect has had an impressive participation rate, with approximately 30% of our workforce, which amounts to over 8,000 employees, taking part. In addition, we’ve noticed a marked increase in proactive reporting and a decrease in recordable injuries. This indicates a significant shift in our workplace culture, with more people stepping forward to prevent error-likely situations and potential injuries.
3. Key takeaway or lesson your team has learned working on the project?
   We have discovered through the launch of Safety Connect that the most effective approach is often the simplest. Safety Connect promotes the integration of safety practices into daily life. It’s not about introducing complicated measures and doing more, but rather about ensuring that our safety interactions are effective and beneficial to people. By utilising simple tools and understanding human performance principles, we can recognise and respond to error-likely situations and really easily contribute to a safer workplace, one where we look after the safety of ourselves and our workmates.

LIBERTY Engineering Bar – UK

Proactive Engagement to Improve Health & Safety

David Felvus and Jon Read submitted this project for the Chairman’s Awards but the Senior Management and whole workforce contributed to enable them to follow the process through. Here are some details:

– Introduction to Daily Operations Meeting (DOM) with an initial focus on safety which allowed key stakeholders to understand their roles and responsibilities relating to day-to-day Health & Safety activities, KPI’s and what resources and activities where required to achieve these objectives. 
– Creation of weekly safety cockpits which enabled us to track our weekly performance against our KPI’s and any underperformance was challenged constructively in the DOM. 
– A process of coaching and mentoring led by Health & Safety function.

– Developed the Hazard Near Miss priority system which enabled us to correctly focus time and resources on the level of risk of the hazard as opposed to how long it had been open or how easy it was to complete. All employees engaged in a more interactive Return to Work Brief.

Change always brings an element of hesitancy as often people in the early stages cannot see the benefit. We needed to overcome some ingrained beliefs about Hazards and Incidents that often went either unreported or shown little attention due to the perception that they were of minor consequence. We fleshed this out by utilising visual aid systems such as the domino effect and Swiss cheese model relating to safety barriers and how minor events can lead to much more significant events if not given the proper attention. 
As can be expected people were initially sceptical about a lot of the proposed changes and saw this as “Additional Work” but through the process we have demonstrated that bringing a clear focus and working together across departments as opposed to working in isolation as was generally the norm historically we can achieve far better results with little extra effort.

InfraBuild Wire Newcastle

Change – Small Project, Big Impact – Fencepost plant Y-bar hazard elimination

JS – John Stanton, GS – Geoff Smith, DH – Dave Hunter

1. How do you feel being a finalist at the Chairman’s Awards?

• It’s good that people are being recognised for the hard work being done to make a safer workplace – JS
• It’s nice to see recognition for the Fence Post Plant and the massive impact that this has despite it being quite a simple solution – GS
• Good to see the hard work being recognised – DH

2. Tell us about the impact of the project?

• The impact has been unbelievable.  Eliminating the hazard has increased safety and has been greatly received by all the operators who have benefitted from this project. JS
• MUCH safer, but also easier and faster. GS
• The impact has made a massive difference both in terms of safety to our people and improving operations within the mill. DH

3. What has been your key lesson from working on the project?

• Talk through all options, trial your idea, get it right, then implement. Doing this made for a very smooth transition to a much safer process for the operators. JS

• Sometimes the “sustain” part is the most difficult of a project, but not when what the Team implemented made things so much easier for the operators. Buy-in was easy. This will be how loads will be stored in the Fence Post Plant for as long as it keeps going. GS
• There is often better ways to do tasks, we shouldn’t accept that the way things have been done in the past to always be best practice. DH

LIBERTY Steel & Wire – Peoria Human Resources Group

Change – Small Project, Big Impact – Overcoming Employment Obstacles One Small Step at a Time

• How you feel being a finalist? This recognition fuels our team’s commitment to continuously elevate the way we recruit, onboard, and support our employees. We are so very proud of what our team has accomplished together.
• The impact of your work/project? As a result of this project, we were able to make a profound impact on employment processes which enhanced efficiency, effectiveness, and candidate experiences while cultivating a diverse workforce.
• Tell us your key takeaway or lesson you learned working on the project While it may be tempting to aim for grand transformations or sweeping changes, the reality is that meaningful progress often comes from consistent, incremental improvements.

LIBERTY Speciality Steels – Rotherham Steel & Bar

Sustainability – CN30 – Ecoke A New Generation in Electric Steelmaking

LIBERTY Steel UK has successfully completed trials of ecoke – a sustainable new raw material that can replace anthracite, the main source of charge carbon in electric steelmaking, and reduce steel’s carbon footprint by as much as 30%. The ecoke initiative is part of LIBERTY’s drive to lead transformation of steel manufacturing through its GREENSTEEL strategy. Production at LIBERTY’s electric arc furnace in Rotherham generates just 10% of the direct emissions compared with traditional coal-based blast furnaces which produce the vast majority of the UK’s steel output.

Scott Jackson, Plant Manager at ACP of LIBERTY Speciality Steel, said: “The success of LIBERTY’s ecoke trials is a major step forward for our GREENSTEEL strategy. The major reductions in CO2 emissions ecoke enables, without any downside to the production process, can help to further decarbonise our production and the wider steel industry. We are proud this work has been acknowledged as a finalist at the Chairman’s Awards.”

FURNACE 1 RESTART – An Innovative Approach – LIBERTY Bell Bay

Sustainability – Economic