Bengalla proves safety works best when leaders build trust, cut clutter and give frontline crews the power to shape safer outcomes together

When Bengalla Mining Company lost tyre fitter Quinten Moore in 2018, the tragedy forced a deep reckoning: could leadership and supervision be strengthened to ensure safer outcomes? For Bengalla, the answer was not only yes, but essential.

That question has since reshaped how the company approaches safety and leadership development, and the journey, outlined at the Mechanical Engineering Safety Seminar (MESS 2025) in Sydney, is a story many mining professionals will recognise.

Kent Flaherty, health, safety, engineering and technology manager at Bengalla Mining Company, and Mark Maguire, director of Leadership & Performance Partners, described how the mine has turned compliance into empowerment, and supervision into a driver of trust.

A fatal catalyst

“We lost Quinten on the third of November 2018, while he was completing tyre maintenance work,” Kent told delegates. “Leadership wasn’t found to be at fault in the investigation, but when something like that happens, you ask yourself: can we do better? Because we can’t have this happen again at Bengalla or anywhere in the industry.”

That reflection became the launchpad for a sweeping effort to strengthen leadership capability, supervision, and workforce engagement.

Closing the gap in frontline competency

Kent pointed out a disparity that had long existed: in statutory mining roles, supervisors hold certificates of competency, but in non-mining frontline areas such as maintenance and processing, no such structure existed.

“We wanted to lift the capability of our non-mining supervisors and set minimum standards,” he said.

Partnering with Deloitte, Bengalla and Glencore’s Bulga mine co-developed the Effective Supervision Programme, a six-month course covering statutory requirements, leadership, asset management, and operational decision-making. The programme concludes with written and oral exams, demanding a level of commitment similar to the statutory certification process.

“It’s tough. Participants have to study in their own time, sit exams, and face scrutiny,” Kent said. “Not everyone passes. But that’s the point. If you want to lead people in this business, you need to understand what it takes.”

Hundreds of supervisors across industry have now completed the programme. For Bengalla, it marked the beginning of a cultural shift.

Listening to the workforce

But the next turning point came when Bengalla realised that strong programmes alone weren’t enough. Safety performance was steady, but workers were still getting hurt, and near misses continued.

“So we asked our people what they thought,” Kent said. “We needed someone external to challenge us, so we partnered with Forge Works. The message from our workforce was clear: in too many areas, safety was being done for compliance, not because it added value.”

Through surveys, workshops, and one-on-one interviews, Forge Works revealed sobering insights. Many employees felt decision-making and communication were locked in compliance mode. They didn’t believe they had meaningful influence over how work was planned and executed.

“From a management perspective, that was sobering,” Kent admitted. “We want our people engaged, we want them involved, but the feedback was that they didn’t feel empowered. And that forced us to take a hard look at ourselves.”

The review produced a “resilience score” of 60 out of 100. The plan is to repeat the survey in 2026 to measure whether initiatives have improved trust and influence.

Cutting the safety clutter

One of the clearest findings was that workers viewed tools like Take 5s and job hazard analyses (JHAs) as tick-box exercises.

“People were doing Take 5s for the same task every shift, just so they wouldn’t get into trouble,” Kent explained. “That’s not risk management, that’s paperwork. We asked ourselves: how can we make these tools meaningful?”

The answer was to reframe the purpose of Take 5s. Routine, repetitive tasks no longer require one; instead, Take 5s are now used when something changes, such as a different crew, a new piece of tooling, or unusual conditions. JHAs are reserved for infrequent or complex tasks.

“Our people know what they’re doing. That’s why we hired them,” Kent said. “So if they’ve done the job every week for years, let them get on with it. But when conditions change, that’s when the tools matter. And we’re already seeing positive results without any increase in risk.”

Strengthening the feedback loop

Bengalla also revamped its Make Safe programme, which encourages peer-to-peer reporting of both positive and negative behaviours.

“It’s no name, no blame,” Kent explained. “If someone sees a mate doing something unsafe, they can report it anonymously. Just as importantly, if they see someone going above and beyond, we want to capture that too. The idea is to share learning and replicate good practices.”

Workers had initially distrusted the system, worried reports would be used punitively. Bengalla responded by improving training, making data more transparent, and giving health and safety reps real-time access to reports so they could lead improvements directly with crews.

“Trust is everything,” Kent said. “If you don’t show people how their feedback is being used, you lose them.”

Building leadership behaviours

While Deloitte’s programme built technical capability, Bengalla also saw gaps in leadership behaviours. That’s where Mark and his team stepped in.

“Bengalla approached us in early 2024,” Mark recalled. “They knew they wanted to develop leadership capability more broadly, but they weren’t sure what it should look like. So we started with a blank canvas.”

A day-long workshop with Bengalla leaders, HR, safety teams, and superintendents produced a framework: focus on values, trust, and consistency. Specific challenges included performance conversations, pre-start communications, decision-making, and time management.

From there, Leadership & Performance Partners designed a four-workshop programme, each spaced four weeks apart. Participants undertook DISC behavioural assessments, engaged in contextualised role plays, and worked through scenarios drawn directly from Bengalla’s operations.

“We didn’t want theory,” Mark said. “If they role-played a performance discussion, it was with a scenario that actually happened at Bengalla. If they practised a pre-start, it was with the same information they’d deliver on site. That’s what made it stick.”

Superintendents and line leaders also acted as mentors and coaches between workshops, ensuring lessons carried back into the workplace.

“This wasn’t homework, it was work work,” Mark said. “Participants went back, applied the tools, and then debriefed with their leaders. That coaching element has been critical.”

Signs of change

Four cohorts have now completed the leadership programme, with a fifth scheduled for 2026. Feedback from participants and leaders has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We believe we’re seeing behavioural change,” Kent said. “It’s hard to quantify, but we’re seeing better conversations, stronger engagement, and more collaboration between workers and leaders. And that’s translating into safer outcomes.”

The numbers back it up. Over the four years of this journey, Bengalla has recorded a 50 percent reduction in significant incidents and a 30 percent reduction in total injuries.

“These aren’t cherry-picked stats,” Kent said. “If someone’s injured, it gets recorded, whether it’s a first aid or a medical treatment. For the amount of work we’re doing, injuring fewer people is something we’re very proud of.”

A model for industry

For mining professionals, the Bengalla case study offers a model of how leadership and safety can evolve beyond compliance.

The key lessons?

• Don’t wait for leadership to fail. Even when investigations don’t point to leadership, reflect and ask: could we do better?

• Set higher standards for supervision. Non-statutory roles still need rigour and accountability.

• Listen to your workforce. Surveys, workshops, and anonymous reporting reveal truths leaders can’t see from the office.

• Cut the clutter. Safety tools must be used when they add value, not as rote paperwork.

• Develop behaviours, not just competencies. Leadership is about trust, communication, and consistency.

• Measure results. A 50 percent reduction in serious incidents is proof the effort pays off.

Conclusion

Mining remains a high-risk industry, but as Bengalla’s journey shows, risk can be reduced when leadership is redefined as trust, empowerment, and accountability.

“Without strong leadership, safety becomes just compliance,” Kent concluded. “With strong leadership, safety becomes a value shared by everyone.”

For an industry still facing too many injuries and near misses, that’s a message worth listening to.