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The Safearth Administration Team featuring Rebecca Kane

At Safearth we employ over 50 people, and more than half of these employees are professional engineers. We tend to concentrate most of our communication on engineering but this month we are mixing it up to focus our spotlight on the team that keep everything running smoothly. The all-important Administration Team! And to tell you the truth, the whole place would fall apart if it wasn’t for this dedicated group.

Although we want to celebrate the whole admin team, we decided to shine our attention on Rebecca Kane, our admin lead. We interviewed Beck and pummelled her with questions about her five years at Safearth and here’s what we found out.

Beck’s Back Story

I originally hail from Singleton, but after a brief 3-year stint in Ireland my family moved to Newcastle when I was 10. I’ve been here ever since and love the city too much to want to live anywhere else! I now live with my fiancé Matt and our (fur) baby, Indy. We live right next to Jesmond Park and spend a large part of our spare time either wandering through the rose gardens or going on big bush walks with Indy.

I started in the administration sector in 2013 when I finished school and sourced a Business Administration traineeship through HVTC, working for Macquarie Generation (now AGL Macquarie). When I completed my Cert III, I briefly paused study to focus on working. I then completed a Diploma of Leadership & Management in 2018 whilst working at Safearth.

Prior to working at Safearth, I was more focused in the records management sector and was part of the records team at Macquarie Generation where we kept and managed tens of thousands of state archive records. After my traineeship had finished up, I moved to Hunter Records Storage (now Zirco Data) and was part of the records team there for several years.

What lead you to work at Safearth?

I realised that I wanted to branch out from records management, so I ended up applying for the role at Safearth due to my prior knowledge of the power industry from working at MacGen. The big selling point of Safearth for me was the main interactions between staff; everyone genuinely enjoyed the work, and there was never a disconnect between the engineers and admin. Everyone was shown the same level of respect, and it truly has a “team” mentality.

What are your main roles and responsibilities?

I oversee the day-to-day task loads of our admin team, both here and across the interstate offices. I undertake high-level administrative functions including tender preparation and project administration. I also run the administrative co-ordination of our Safearth training courses. I view my main responsibility to be ensuring that the Safearth team can be effectively supported by admin so that they are empowered to complete their best work.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Two days are never the same at Safearth. It keeps things fresh! Plus, I get to interact with each different section of Safearth which I don’t believe is common in many workplaces. I get to speak to and work alongside some of the biggest brains in the industry, and whilst I don’t understand 95% of the technical jargon, just working with people who are that passionate about what they do makes it so much better to come to work each day.

Can you think of a time when your role was challenging or difficult? How did you overcome this?

I imagine that I’m not alone in saying that the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was a particularly difficult time; things were changing daily, so it was hard to keep up without being unsure about the future. Thankfully, we were very fortunate to have a great team working at Safearth; everyone was able to just “get on with the job”. When we had to adapt to all the changes, it could be confusing and stressful, but it was made so much easier due to the team making good out of a challenging situation.

What projects have you worked on that you are proud of?

I’m particularly proud of the contributions I’ve been able make to the major rail projects Safearth has undertaken, such as Sydney Metro and Cross River Rail. I also take real satisfaction when the training courses I take part in coordinating run smoothly and the attendees provide positive feedback.

Tell us about a time your admin team worked together to solve a problem?

One of the core values held at Safearth is that we support several charities. Usually this consists of things such as morning teas and long lunches. During a pandemic when most staff were mandated to work from home, this was no longer an option. The admin team brainstormed how we could complete fundraisers during COVID, and we came up with a home-delivery system of cupcakes for the RSPCA’s annual Cupcake Day fundraiser. Rather than a morning tea, for the month of August staff were able to make orders for boxes of cupcakes to be hand-made by the admin team and then delivered either to the office for collection or delivered to their homes. It turned into a very popular model, and we ended up raising over $600!

You are the administration lead. What does that mean? Do you manage the team? Do you have more responsibilities? Are you involved in training?

The lead position involves managing the day-to-day task loads of the team, and delegate new jobs out to my team as needed. I also provide the training to new admin starters and give guidance to the admin staff on new or high-level work that they haven’t come across before.

What’s it like working in a male dominated industry? Any challenges here?

It can sometimes be challenging seeing how many few women are in the engineering field, but on a day-to-day basis it has never been a problem at Safearth. There is such a deeply ingrained level of respect that the team has for one another here; I’ve never felt that my gender has put me behind anyone else in the team.

Do you ever get to go onsite? Travel for work?

Whilst admin haven’t been able to go onsite (yet!), I have been able to travel through work – I’ve been lucky enough to travel to WA a few times to onboard and train new staff which is an opportunity I don’t think I’d get in any other role. I’ve also been able to travel to VIC and QLD to help source test gear to the teams urgently. I hope that through Safearth I’ll be able to get round to all the states and territories that we have staff and maybe even a cheeky trip to the US or Europe one day.

Are there any areas of the business that you would like more experience in? Workshop, IT, marketing, sales.

I would love to have more time to get more experience in the internal training & competency assessment space. HR is also a skillset that I intend on pursuing.

Have you been able to help or change people and processes at Safearth? Training, mentoring, creating better admin systems, organising chaos?

In my time I’ve made the prequalification process much easier than before. Inductions and onboarding of new staff is now much more streamlined and is something I enjoy doing. Making sure the consultants know where they’re going, when they need to be there, and that they have everything they need when they arrive is a large task in itself! I think it’s getting easier over time, particularly once you get to know the staff and what makes it easiest for them to work effectively.

What are big (or small!) wins that you have had at Safearth? What were the moments where you felt most accomplished?

The biggest win I’ve been a part of whilst at Safearth was the obtaining of TAO (Technically Assured Organisation) status in the rail industry. A significant amount of work was put into it and whilst I only played a small part in getting the accreditation sorted, it was a great feeling seeing the certificate of accreditation come through!

Do you socialise with your colleagues out of work? Is there a good team environment?

Sure do! Myles, Ash, and I are on a mixed netball team in a competition that runs close by to the office. The team’s been running for several years, and it’s a fantastic group of people that can get together and let off some steam and have fun. Besides that, the admin team try to get together outside of work every few months for various lunches/dinners. We recently went to a trivia night at the local pub, and whilst we didn’t do particularly well, we had a fantastic time with lots of laughter!

What do you do for your Christmas parties, social events, work lunches at Safearth?

Safearth is an incredibly social workplace. The first Monday of every month is Lunch Club, where we provide a long lunch for the staff and there’s usually a theme. The only rule is that you can’t talk about work! If you’re caught talking shop, then you must donate $10 to the pool which gets donated to charity at the end of the financial quarter.

On top of that, the week leading up to Christmas is filled with events; a family Christmas party, go-carts, golf tournaments, and Beer and Prawns (a decades long Safearth tradition and considered one of the best days on the Safearth calendar) all happen in a week-long span.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Any last comments about Safearth?

Who knows! But that’s also the beauty of Safearth; there’s always support to move into new/different spaces or roles. You’re not “boxed into” your role; the freedom here empowers people to work the role they want, not just the job that pays the bills.

Thanks for an excellent interview, Beck. I feel like we all know a bit more about what it’s like to work at Safearth now. Here’s to another five years!

Note: We would also like to acknowledge the hard work of the administration staff in our other Australian, US and Canadian offices. Simone Goodwin (Perth) and Brittney Wallace (US).

For more information on careers at Safearth please visit here: safearth.com/careers