Brett Robins has been actively pushing for inclusivity and diversity at Bell Bay Aluminium for the last two years by ensuring amenity issues and shortcomings in uniforms and equipment for female employees were addressed.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
When he first started at the site 25 years ago only a handful of women worked at the smelter. However, currently, close to 80 women make up the 500 workforce.
In a bid to increase inclusivity he introduced a range of women's clothing, boots and safety equipment for the smelter's female employees to address the shortcomings on the market.
In other news:
He leads the recruitment process for electrical apprentices and has mentored several female apprentices, including the site's first female power controller in its history.
On Wednesday, Mr Robins took home the Australian Gender Diversity Champion Award at the Resources National Awards for his work.
Mr Robins said he was not expecting to win, but as an advocate for diversity and inclusion it was a great honour to be recognised.
"With 85 per cent of our workforce male, this work is very important," he said.
"We need to engage and involve more of our employees at Bell Bay to change culture and make real advances with a goal to balancing gender diversity. While it is challenging, there is a lot of opportunity at Bell Bay to attract females into our workforce across a range of roles.
"I have two daughters and I want them to be able to work in whatever career they choose, without having to overcome challenges and obstacles that many males do not have to face. This drives me to work hard, with my employer and in our industry, to remove barriers to females who join our workforce and have ambition to succeed."
The award recognises a person for their work encouraging, promoting and advocating for the attraction, retention and promotion of women in the resources sector.
Sign up to one of our newsletters: