airwaves ::: The official magazine of Air Liquide in Australia & New Zealand ::: No 2 d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 2
::: Contents ::: 02 Mac's Message & News ::: 03 March Safety Month ::: 04 Experts Award (TCL) ::: 06 Wacol New Building ::: 07
CPR Training & Newcastle
::: 08 March Fitness Challeng & International Food Day ::: 09 Question Time with Simone Clear ::: 10
ALNZ Weight Loss Challenge & Back to Basics, Cash Basics
::: 11
Breast Cancer & Movember
::: 12 Babies & Weddings
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::: News
The year is drawing to a close and it is time to reflect upon it. Economically it was a tough one for many of our customers and we saw this in our own activity. However we managed to maintain our volumes and navigate this difficult situation. I would like to mention the positive role of the Sales and Marketing teams in keeping the trucks rolling with new sales, 2012 is our best year ever for business development. A heavy burden for our Company lifted in early November when the Lang Lang CO2 Plant finally returned to operation. A big thanks to our logistics teams who kept the product rolling and to the sales and support crews who coordinated with the customers. March Safety Month saw teams from across the globe participate in the Air Liquide Australia fitness challenge. As well as keeping us fit, this challenge helped us learn about some key Group resources such as the BlueBook and Alexandria. An internally developed internet site was created to track teams as they travelled across the globe. This site has been widely admired in Asia and Europe and I thank everyone involved in the development of this program. Another notable safety innovation for the month was the Family Safety Quiz, great prizes saw lots of participation by our employees families as we spread the safety message to the home. Once again ALMA delivered positives for the Company. Customer facing projects such as the new look invoice and customer focused projects such as 5 Votes have started us down the path of repositioning the customer at the centre of our organisation. The data we are collecting from the Customer Feedback Tool along with the creation of new roles such as Customer Satisfaction Manager are other ALMA initiatives that are starting to have visible improvements in our customer interaction. Skills in the Company have been improving. New courses such as Cash Basics training are proving a big success, while well proven Air Liquide classics like Project Management have improved in effectiveness with the qualification of a better facilitator. A Learning Management System project is under development and we hope to be able to drive training, learning and development harder in 2013. Now that 2012 is almost behind us, what of the future? While 2013 does not look easy we have some interesting momentum in the Company and a number of programs and projects that should help us have a smoother operation and more satisfied customers. Finally, I would like to thank you all for your efforts this year and to wish you all the best for the festive Season. Please remember to keep safe during this period. M.Redfern Managing Director
Editorial Contact Detials
Air Liquide Australia Limited
Catherine Chan - Administration Officer e: catherine.chan@airliquide.com t: +61 (3) 9697 9888
Level 9, Royal Domain Centre, 380 St Kilda Road Melbourne VIC 3004 www.airliquide.com.au
Your Views, Your AL Employee Opinion Survey 2012 Between the 21st May & the 6th June 2012, Air Liquide conducted an Employee Opinion Survey across the Asia Pacific Zone. The survey asked questions about employees’ perceptions of our organisation, for example, what employees think we are doing well, and the areas where they feel we could improve. All Air Liquide employees in Australia, including Western Australia and Healthcare, and in New Zealand were given the opportunity to participate in the survey. The survey results were compiled and presented to all employees along with proposed action plans.
Thank you to those that took the time to complete this survey.
APAC Job Posting Website
As part of the ALMA program and in order to achieve our ambition in career development, APAC Zone HR have designed and developed a ‘Job Posting’ website where APAC countries can advertise vacant roles that they wish to present to the APAC Zone employees for consideration. This website
is in place to present eligible employees with international opportunities that will help grow and develop our people and encourage international knowledge sharing. On Monday 6th August, the APAC Job Posting pilot website was launched in Australia (ALA Ltd only), Taiwan & South Korea. All going to plan, the website will be available to the remainder of the APAC Zone from mid October.
Please visit the website to learn more about the opportunities available and the criteria. The website link is located under the Human Resources tab of the intranet.
::: March Safety Month
March Safety Month This year’s Safety month went out with a bang, with two IPad 3’s being given as 1st Prizes. We had over 100 teams from across Air Liquide Australia, Healthcare and Japan join in the challenge. Over the course of four weeks, we looked at key safety issues around the home; Fire, Sun, Water and Personal Safety. Each week we received some amazing work sent in by employees & their families. Thank you to everyone for all of their hard work. Some feedback received about the challenge: "Every Thursday, I'd print off your email, take back home all the assignments and involve the family. And I should say, it has been so much fun, involving all the family and spending quality time sharing ideas, learning, colouring, doing crosswords, unscrambling words, solving mazes etc. (Even my youngest daughter who is now approaching 7 months, would crawl towards us and try to grab a pencil or sketch or crayon to get involved!). I should thank my family for being so engaged in this exercise." "The whole exercise has been refreshing, educative, fun, challenging and interactive. Need I say more!" "We really learnt something new by doing the challenge!" "My kids will surely miss this activity . . . We truly enjoy it." "We really learnt something new by doing the challenge!"
::: Week 2 Winners 1st Prize Six ‘O’ Three 2nd Prize Joseph 3rd Prize Jenny from the block
::: Week 4 Winners 1st Prize Spitfires 2nd Prize Francis 3rd Prize Gnomies
::: Special Mention Award Kekas Klan
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::: Experts Award (TCL)
Experts Award (TCL) Air Liquide is the sum of the talents, efforts, ideas and aspirations of its employees. People are at the heart of who we are and what we achieve. To better recognise those people who contribute to our company and help drive its progress 2012 saw the launch of the Local Technical Career Ladder. The Local technical Career ladder is designed to: • Identify people with key fields of expertise within Air Liquide Australia and New Zealand; • To provide people with special expertise recognition and career opportunities outside the existing pathways; • Provide visibility for technical employees in their development; • Identify a pool of experts at a Local level with the potential to become experts at a broader level. To celebrate this occasion all appointees were invited to a lunch on the 4th of September at the Sofitel in Melbourne. The appointees were joined by Jean-Marc de Royere and Mac Redfern to present a certificate of appointment. The day was a great success with 46 people in attendance.
::: 2012 National Technical Career Ladder Experts Air Liquide Australia Adenia Felsinger
Karen Thorley
Tim Traill
Customer Service National Expert
Information Technology - Applications Systems National Senior Expert
Bulk Logistics & Transport National Expert
Ken Palmer
Ben Vocale
Technical Operations – Customer Installations National Senior Expert
CO2 Plant Operations & Product Quality National Senior Expert
Magdy Attia
Craig Sieberhagen
ASU Operations National Senior Expert
Malcolm Rigby
Supply Chain Management National Senior Expert
A & F Products National Senior Expert
Craig Vivian
Mark Bennett
CO2 Plant Operations National Expert
George McGowan Cylinder Logistics National Expert
Herbert Cordero ASU Plant Operations National Expert
Joan Lake Risk Management & Safety National Expert
John Manfred Technical Operations-Industrial Filling Centre & Handling National Senior Expert
Lazar Nikolov ASU Plant Operations National Expert
Lee De Angelis Technical Operations – Cylinders National Expert
LI Projects, Engineering & Technical National Senior Expert
Martin Menzi ASU Plant Operations National Expert
Michelle Dudgeon ASU Plant Operations National Senior Expert
Paul Horabik Food Applications National Senior Expert
Roy Pannell Acetylene Production & Filling National Expert
Shane Taylor
Tom Stratton Test Station Operations National Expert
Air Liquide New Zealand Grant Williams Technical Operations – Cylinders National Expert
Air Liquide Western Australia Alvin Pillay Health Care Sales National Expert
Justin Milton Acetylene Production & Filling National Expert
Kevin Hume Test Station Operations National Senior Expert
Kim Higgins Risk Management & Safety National Expert
Timothy Soanes
Test Station Operations National Expert
ASU Operations National Expert
Steve Tyler
Troy Tuke
ASU Plant Operations National Expert
ASU Operations National Expert
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::: News
Steve Chapman, Daniel Cocks, Paul Binyon & Nick Adams
New Site For more than 30 years Air Liquide had based our Central Queensland production and distribution operations out of Rockhampton (650km north of Brisbane) however in 2011 the opportunity arose with the pending end of our long term lease to review our future plans. After in-depth review and analysis the decision was made to relocate our base of operations from Rockhampton to Mackay (990km north of Brisbane). The city of Mackay turned 150 years old in 2012 and in the last 10 years it has seen significant grown in population and manufacturing businesses mainly as a result of the coal mining boom experienced in Central Queensland. Mackay is known as the sugar capital of Australia with the region producing more than 1/3 of Australia’s total cane sugar production. It is also situated approximately 3 hours drive from the Bowen Basin being one of the main coal mining areas in Australia. In early 2012 a project team was put together with Nick Adams (Central QLD Facility Manager) as Project Manager and Mark Bobleter as Design Manager. From there a concept was developed for the new facility that would meet key requirements incorporating our high safety standards, efficiency objectives and provide a modern work environment. The new design was also
tasked to encapsulate the use of existing materials and equipment from the old Rockhampton site along with the introduction of new systems so as to provide for a cost effective development. Production began in mid 2012 on the new facility to be situated in the suburb of Paget which is within the main industrial area of Mackay. Under the guidance of Nick Adams & Mark Bobleter a team of Air Liquide engineers and fitters (Steve Heit, Hilton McGill, Bodie Heit, Ryan D’Lima, Simon Bradbury) began construction and installation of the Air Liquide operational equipment. With winter in Mackay normally dry it was anticipated that the new building would be ready for hand over from the developers in August. However with close to 12 weeks of unseasonal rain experienced the facility was finally handed over to Air Liquide on 14th September 2012 marking the beginning of a new era. Final installation, testing and commissioning work was conducted by the Air Liquide project team through September and in early October the branch began standard production operations.
The new Mackay branch incorporates a modern cylinder filling operation able to produce our core products in cylinders and packs for distribution throughout Central and North Queensland. The production and filling operations are contained within a single building which adjoins the main offices and amenities allowing for the majority of activities to be conducted undercover. Dedicated filling ramps have also been designed to accommodate our ALTOP and Smartop cylinder ranges providing safe and efficient filling of these products. Nick Adams with 15 years Air Liquide experience is joined by three new team members in the Mackay branch, Paul Binyon and Steve Chapman as Production Operators and Danny Cocks as Sales Representative. This new facility along with the new Mackay branch team provides Air Liquide with a key operation from which to strongly grow our presence and customer base within Central Queensland.
::: News
CPR Training
2012 is an important year for Air Liquide South Australia as they reach 50 years of operation. Regional Manager of South Australia, Sajimon Joseph encouraged everyone to come up with suggestions to celebrate this milestone.
Newcastle
Ralp Rajapakse (Asset, Quality and Safety Manager- SA) suggested that all staff attend Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training. CPR is a great first aid tool that is beneficial to anyone in their everyday life. Someone who goes into a cardiac arrest can have double the chances of survival if they were immediately given CPR.
Organised via St John Ambulance Australia, all staff attended a 2 hour training which consisted of both a theory and practical assessments. Excellent feedback from participants was given for they have now learnt a skill that they might one day use to save a life of a loved one.
In November 2011, ALA Newcastle achieved the outstanding milestone of 20 years with no Lost Time Accidents. On the 16 Feb 2012 a short presentation was held on site for all staff involved to congratulate them on their achievement. The Branch was presented with a plaque and each employee was presented with an LED Torch in recognition of their achievement and dedication to ensuring the site and staff remained incident free for over 20 years. Recognition should also be made to Tom Mahoney who was integral in the Newcastle Team achieving this goal as he managed the site for a majority of the 20 years in which we remained incident free.
Left to right: Jamie Maher, Matt Morley, Shane Walliker, Joe Balliana, Steve Bajzath, Shannon Marshall, Brad Hughes and Karen Thorley.
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::: Food Day & March Fitness
International Food day (Winter Warmers) It’s that time of the year again where our hard work is paying its yield. This winter warmer we have had more than a dozen entries, enough to feed an army and a half. There were so much food left over, it lasted two days. We had dishes such as, Spaghetti Meatballs, Chicken Parmigiana, Chilli Corn Carn w Nachos, Tiramisu and something a little exotic such as, Ikan Bilis & Coconut Rice, Cassoulet and aubergine stir fry with anchovies. Thank you to everyone who has cooked up a storm and brought another exciting day to the office. Bon appétit.
Lint Chocolate Brownie Cake by Judy Coulson ::: Ingredients
::: Ingredients:
• 1 ½ Cups Castor Sugar
• Combine butter and sugar in bowl.
• 3 eggs
• Beat in 1 egg at a time.
• 2/3 Cups Plain Flour
• Stir in sifted fl our and cocoa.
• 185g melted Butter
• ½ Cup Cocoa • 70g Lint 70% Chocolate, broken into pieces • Icing sugar • Grease fl our and line deep 22cm round tin.
Beef Marsala by Mick Field
• Pour into prepared tin • Push broken pieces of chocolate into mixture making sure not to touch sides or bottom of tin.
• Bake in moderate over (170°), not fan forced for 1 hour.
This year we had a record number of 81 teams participate. The objective of this years challenge was to promote health, well being and provide some friendly inter-office competition. There was definitely no shortage of banter between teams. Over the four weeks, teams competed to do as much exercise as possible which was then digitally converted into a distance to determine how far each team had travelled per week. Below is a list of the team stage winners. Stage 1 – Gobstoppers Stage 2 – Coin Collecting Cookie Crunches Stage 3 – The World Team Stage 4 – The FOB’s Special commendation goes to the team from the West “The Bogans” (photo of the team attached).
• 1 cup Yoghurt • ½ Cup Onion
• Marinate beef with Turmeric, Ginger, Garlic paste, Salt and Green Marsala.
• 4 tsp Curry Paste
• Sauté Onion and add marinate beef. (Add additional Marsala Paste to taste)
• Sprinkle with shifted icing sugar.
• 2 tsp Crush ginger & Garlic paste
• Add Coconut milk and simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
• Serve with King Island cream and best served warm.
• 1 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• Garnish with chopped Coriander leaves
• Stand for 5 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.
Fitness Challenge Once again we saw some great team work during the Air Liquide Fitness Challenge, which was held in March.
• 500g Blade meat
• ¼ Cup Oil
• 1 tsp Green Marsala Paste • ¼ bunch Coriander Leaves
::: Question Time
Question time with Simone Clear 1. Name: Simone Clear 2. Coffee or Tea? Caramel Latte 3. Lives: Springfield (and yes my son does look like Bart Simpson, but Shaun’s no where near as naughty as Bart) 4. Current Position: Distribution Supervisor 5. Which means you do what exactly? Oversee all aspects of distribution for Qld from Dry Ice to Cylinders and outside transport with my main role being Bulk Logistics.
9. What is the biggest challenge about your job? The high volume of enquires and continuous operation requirement of the job. Therefore it is challenging to find a good balance between work and home. The CO2 crisis have given us more than enough grey haired ladies and bald men! 10. It definitely sound like a varied and challenging role, what are you best kept secrets to de-stress? A message and a facial. 11. What rugby team do you follow? Brisbane Broncos who else I am Brisbane born and bred.
6. How long have you been working for Air Liquide Australia? 14 years July.
12. Who is your favourite player? Darren Lockyer and Shane Webcke.
7. What are some of the things you have enjoyed at Air Liquide or some of the positive changes you have seen? Since my time with Air Liquide, I have progressed from Pubgas customer service to my current role. It is good to see talent is being appreciated and encourages a proactive approach to our work. I particularly enjoy working with the social club in Wacol. We try to bring different activities to the group and I get a lot of satisfaction from a successful event. Our last social outing was the Ipswich Cup. I was invited to do hot laps with Craig Lowndes. I have got to say, I didn’t think our body can move that fast.
13. If you have a day to spend with either Darren or Shane, what would you do? A personal training session!
8. What do you enjoy most about your job: That it keeps me busy and there are new challenges to face everyday, it’s certainly not boring.
14. When you’re not working for Air Liquide, what do you do? Visit my family on the Gold Coast; I love the beach and especially my baby nephews. Ollie is three weeks old but wasn’t due for another 7 weeks and his big brother, Lachlan is 2. 15. One last thing, for those of us who don’t know you well. How would you best describe yourself? I have been nicknamed Mony. I am known as the cleaning lady, I like things to be clean and tidy.
My sisters and I, L-R Sarah, Simone and the bride Jesse.
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::: News
ALNZ ran a weight loss challenge ::: Some honourable mentions are as follows; Heather Ritchie - Heather has been so dedicated to this challenge, which shows in her results – awesome result Heather!
Graham Morris - Graham has been gradually chipping away each week which is probably the right way to lose weight. Well done Graham Don Webby - despite a weekend of pre xmas celebrations, Don had a great 6 weeks. Great effort Don
ALNZ ran a weight loss competition running for 6 weeks. From the 25 challengers that took part, a total of 104.25kg’s were lost.
Teresa Marx - I have seen Teresa’s meal plan and I must congratulate her on sticking with it. It must have been very challenging but as you can see it has paid off. Congrats!
It was a real race between Kerry McDonald and Dennis Charlett; however despite Dennis racing all weekend and then running to the Palmerston North branch from Fielding (~18km), Kerry took the podium. Darren from Palmerston North branch also did a great job. His initial loss from week 1 set him up to do well and it took him a few weeks to get into a routine which certainly paid off for the final week.
is fantastic. If you have short term goals, you will feel inspired to continue when you achieve them – Nice one JW
John Webber - John reached his weight loss goal which
Clint said “I am glad that I put this challenge out to everyone. Not only have I seen changes in people’s attitudes, diets and physical well-being, I have also seen us become closer as a team. All of this is what I really wanted at the end of the day”.
Back to Basics, Cash Basics Cash will continue to be a key element in our business in 2012, and in the context of a difficult trading environment, efficient and effective management of cash flow took on an even greater significance. At ALA we now have a new initiative in Cash Training which involves a gentle introduction to the fundamental building blocks of accounting and finance and the corporate economy, done in a gradual way through a combination of theory and business simulation games played in teams. The 2 day training package was rolled out for the first time at our Elizabeth site in Adelaide SA and was conducted by Lawry Blakey (missing in action but shot the photo). This Cash Basics Program was developed by Air Liquide University and is ideal for all people in infl uencing positions. It is run in a fun, casual and congenial manner and a great team building program!
The participants from left to right are –Craig Harvey, Sajimon Joseph, Maria Caraccia, David Conry, Ralp Rajapakse, Hendra Tungka.
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::: News
Breast Cancer On the weekend of 27th & 28th of Oct a few of us from Sunshine participated in the Brimbank Relay for Life to support the Western Pink Ladies Breast Cancer Group. It was a great 1st time event and although our legs & bodies ached from 18hrs of walking it was a great effort by all. We had supporters donating food and encouragement throughout the night. It was very cold in the early hours but we rugged up & walked even faster (actually shuffl ed by the end). Big thanks to the following participants, George McGowan, Betty Grossi, Joan Lake, Siti Zainolabidin, the girls from WPL’s & our partners . I was very proud of the small group and for first timers at only 3-4 wks notice we managed to raise $1,400 approx. Well done, look forward to next year, walkers required.
Kerri Welsh, Joan lake, Betty Gross i and friends. (George McGow an official phot ographer)
Movember During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in Australia and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and male mental health. Movember - a global movement Since its humble beginnings in Melbourne, Australia, Movember has grown to become a truly global movement inspiring more than 1.9 Million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas. No matter the country or city, Movember will continue to work to change established habits and attitudes men have about their health, to
Guess who? A man. A man without a moustache.
educate men about the health risks they face, and to act on that knowledge, thereby increasing the chances of early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment. In 2011, over 854,000 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas around the world got on board, raising AUD 124 million. Movember at Air Liquide kicked off with a roaring start this year with four members
of Air Liquide Head Office participating. The highlight of the event is the disappearance of Mick Field’s old and dear friend, his moustache. The last time Mick was sighted without a moustache was 35 years ago. As we conclude another year of Movember, we would like to congratulate the efforts of our valued gentlemen who have made a change to this world one mo at a time.
Tim Trail & Rob Mason
Mick Field! James O’Connor
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::: News
Babies & Weddings
Ryan Lee - (Draftsman) and his wife,
Samantha Allen - (Cylinder Distribution
Cathy, welcomed their second child, Ryan Soonsu, on 29th October 2012. Pictured with big sister Sia.
Coordinator, QLD) and her husband Dean welcomed their first child, Braxton David at 8:46am on 8th October 2012, weighing 9 pound and 51.5 cm long
Andrea Watkins Tina Srbinovsky(Efficiency Engineer) and her husband Jhan welcomed a daughter, Laleh, on 1st February 2011
(Logistics Manager – Spec Gases) & her husband James, welcomed Olivia Alene into the world on 14th March 2012. weighting 2.8kg.
Sumit Mohan - (IMS Engineer – LI) and his wife welcomed their first child, Aradhya, on 21st October 2012. Aradhya was born in Sumit’s home country of India.
Matthew Harman - (Regional Mgr Vic & Tas) married Joanne Attwell on 28th April at St Gregory’s Catholic Church in Doncaster. The ceremony was attended by family and friends, including several members of Joanne’s family who had travelled all the way over from South Africa to attend. The reception was held at the Boulevard in Studley Park and a good time was had by all. After a week of showing their overseas guests around some of the sites of Victoria the happy couple adjourned to Maui and Waikiki for a very relaxing honeymoon.
Lee De Angelis - (Senior Engineer) and his wife Melinda, welcomed twin boys into their family. Joshua (left) and Benjamin (right), born on 13th August 2012. The twins are little brothers to big sister Emily.
Kirk Timson
Tammy Gater - (Customer Service
(Product Manager – Cylinders) and his wife Liz, welcomed their second child, Linkin Graydon Harvey Timson into the world. Born 12th November 2012 and weighing 7 Pound 4 Ounces. Linkin is a little brother to big sister Denva.
Supervisor, NSW) and her partner Anthony welcomed their first child, Jayden Anthony Hodges into the world on 27th August, 2012, weighing 3.5 kg and 52 cm long.