Latest / Insights for a Better Workplace - Sponsored By Manutan / Why Chemical Storage Fails and How Justrite Fixes It
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- [00:00] so today on insights for a better workplace we are joined by Lydia Hempstock who works with just right a workplace safety provider that is one of our suppliers here at Magnitani UK Lizzie it's great to have you on the show thank you for joining us no thanks so much for having me it's my first time on podcast so oh exciting that's so exciting you've been down in the area near well I would say sunny Wollongong but actually it's a little bit rainy and cloudy today I said it's a good opportunity for you to pop in and see the studio and do some recording with her yeah definitely it's really nice this is what's nice and cozy but yeah it's not not been so sunny on the way down it's actually nicer up north right now [00:38] which is unusual but you know that makes the train it is winter now mainly so yeah absolutely so um first is um start off telling us a little bit about yourself and what you do at just right yeah of course so and I've been at just right for just under five years now so it's coming up to five year Mark already and for me personally I work in the field sales and department so I'm on the road visiting customers like yourself visiting our distributors and going to site visits just doing technical information with customers and making sure they've got like the right solution so just right is a workplace safety provider and then what we do is anything you can think of that's non PPE at workplace we pretty much do so there's quite a big range [01:27] but um but yeah Mason that's great and say just right safety is obviously in the sort of like manufacturing industry so what first drew you into manufacturing and what sort kept you there for five years yes so at my previous job and I've been there for seven and a half years and that was also in manufacturing but you know what it's like when you come out of college you end up going from one job and then it's maybe not right and then a new one and my last employer they were manufacturer for window blinds and it was really really nice to work there because the team are lovely but we're manufacturing the blinds on site there so you got to really understand what actually goes into making our products as well [02:11] and then for my next job when I worked to just right then I've been carried on with the manufacturing as well I like it because you just get a bit of a mix of everything and you get to actually see the the full process from like start to finish from the customer service team getting an order in to it being made from scratch made to measure stuff ordered in for it fully produced and then with the end user as well so it's a nice process to follow through but it's I like manufacturing because you get to see of completely different areas and sites so you might be at like a a rails railway servicing place one day and then the next day you might be at a pharmaceutical place it's it's a it's a big difference in in different sides [02:56] that's nice what does your and getting in pills house for just right what does a typical day look like for you normally so a typical day depends how and how about it's split up but for like for example today been a bit of a long day today but I don't mind so travelling down to a customer having a meeting with them it could be about potential new products that are being added it could be about potential and users that we're visiting or marketing details having a meeting there then we'll go to a site visit and also we'll be doing business development and just developing the accounts together just collaborating with with our customers at the end of the day yeah nice cause I know you've spoken a little bit about [03:37] and doing some sort of like collaborative site visits with you so customers that we have and then bringing just right along with us cause you guys are the experts when it comes to a lot of your products so I've been really interested to hear to hear of like your I suppose your stuff just products that when you go on site what do you look for like what's the service that you provide when you when you go on site to see someone yeah of course so it's it's really nice to go in with the distributor and so at Money Town for example so did one with um with Adam last time actually which was nice so they you guys have got a relationship with that end user already so it's really nice to go in together as you say [04:14] we go in as like the the experts for site safety and when we go in um it depends on what the actual setup is it might not be manufacturing it might be um a service or a transport but in a manufacturing one the first things we kinda look for is what issues have they got what solutions can we provide but ultimately when I'm going for a site I'm thinking in my head right so what hazards have they got on site where are you storing them what's processes have they got I'm seeing where we can really make a difference with some of our solutions so some of them it can be a benefit to the people that are working there it could be protecting the site or it could be a safety and preventive measure that we're doing [05:00] amazing so it looks different for every site that you go to I'd imagine yeah so we've got lots of different types of customers um what are the sort of like I suppose the top products for you that like when you're going on site what is it that you're looking for to so I suppose raise some awareness but then make people aware of like preventive measures as well what types of products you do definitely so I'd say one of the ones that I visit the most is either a servicing provider so it might be like a rail servicing line or chemical and manufacturers chemical manufacturers is a good one because for them it's what's what chemicals have they got on site and where are they storing them is it a safe process [05:39] so what we'll be looking for it'll be from cabinets outdoor storage down to what dispensing cans using to make the most safest practices so when I go to a chemical site for example it'll be right I'll ask them what hazardous chemicals or materials have you got on site have you got anything flammable where are you storing it make sure store it in the right place cause a lot of the time I've seen some very questionable places for having things stored in the past where if there was a fire it it wouldn't be very good so it's definitely a case of it needs to be stored in the right place hundred percent what are they storing it in is it the the right storage container and then the processes on the lines so for example [06:24] say we've got like a automotive place and they are manufacturing car parts they might be using some lubricants to lubricate the parts before they go into the next part of the the uh process and when they do that a lot of the time it'll just be like an oily rag that they'll just throw in like a cardboard open top rather than having safety measures in place because that could just set on fire so it is following through the whole process with with the end user and ultimately we learn a lot from them in the end because their process might not be what we originally thought and then we might come up with a better solution for them with some of our products and solutions amazing I can imagine that over the years [07:07] that hopefully the amount of like fires and risk and things like that have decreased over the years but I think there's probably still a lot of room to grow would you say in terms of like awareness around this sort of thing yeah definitely I think there needs to be a lot more like cash awareness for for companies definitely because you'll go there and even if they have got a storage um container or a cabinet it might be just like a tick box exercise to say oh yeah it's fine it does the job when realistically if there was actually a fire it wouldn't give them very much time to to get out the building so it's kind of creating that awareness with the end users and with our distribution partners to [07:46] to really push that you know it's not just a tick box exercise it is keeping the people at work safe ultimately at the end of the day but as well as that it's you know you need to keep your your site safe so there is there is a bit of a change around at the moment where people are starting to kind of look at rather than the basic option the more high end option to ensure that they are covered so like maybe like a 90 minute rated cabinet for example so in case there is a fire they've got 90 minutes before those hazardous materials are gonna be touched by the fire so yeah it's definitely raising awareness but I think companies are becoming a bit more aware of it it's just falls down to a few things educating them [08:31] sometimes it can be like a budget issue um or it could just be it's not at the forefront of their mind until something happens you see yeah and I there's a couple of things you said there like with the education and also that phrase tick box exercise is something that we hear so much on the podcast like in the in a few episodes that we have done obviously it's all about this podcast is all about insights for a better workplace what's working well for people what challenges are people facing but there is always that oh there's this thing and a lot of people think of it as a tip box exercise but actually when it comes to it there's like a huge amount of importance around a lot of the topics that we're talking about [09:08] and investing now potentially a lot of those products will save so much 100% yeah that's amazing and so looking at your sort of like career which has been around manufacturing type of site you go to and things like that what is it meant to you to build a career in uh businesses where there's actually few women that are in the field I think when it comes to manufacturing when you think about the type of sites that you're going to some of the manufacturing sites industrial I often see I would I would think and I would say there's probably more men than women that are in those roles and how what is it meant to you to be in the role that you're in and and how do you find that yeah so hundred percent [09:48] it's definitely more a male dominated industry for sure um but there is a lot of women that already take up space in the industry that are like quite well known or you know they've carved a career for themselves by making sure that they're knowledgeable technical and taking up the space in those areas so it is kind of inspiring because you know it shows that you've got some of these ladies that have been working like 30 years plus in the safety industry so it means a lot to make sure that when I'm going to customers I'm going to people that potentially maybe like a bit presumptuous or maybe be assuming that you know I might not potentially know um what I'm on about that it's it's good to have the the technical um [10:31] aspect and the education behind it and then it's kind of flips the coin to to educate them as well at the same time it definitely helps yeah but we've also got a lot of um male allies as well along the way so yeah no that's amazing I think it's um yeah it's great and I think for me it's like I love seeing it you know when I see one LinkedIn I see like you going out about doing these different things and I think there are more women taking up space in these industries which is fantastic cause we always want to see that um and obviously it's um yeah it's really really great to see I think you've got some sort of really great uh achievements as well like since you've been at just right so I think you won over a major account as well [11:13] after around 18 months of persistence of trying to get them on board um so you sort of built the meeting presentation all of that sort of stuff even though you had a quite dismissive fire at the time but you finally turned that around how did you how did you find that challenge as part of your role yeah I'd say at first it was definitely disheartening because I'd gone out there and prospected this potential account it was you know gonna be a big account for just right and I'd put together a presentation and done all the legwork for it had a meeting with him and yeah he was he was a bit dismissive at the time and didn't really take it seriously but I was determined because I knew how much of a big opportunity it was [11:57] so I kept going back and I kept going back and he kept knocking me down and he was kind of acknowledging other colleagues but not me and it was it was a bit frustrating but eventually I had um I think it was about the fourth or fifth meeting with him and um we'd forecasted for what I believe they they could potentially do with us and he was like like I love it but I think it's a bit ambitious and I was like I don't think it is if we can do it right and then since then I think he realized that you know I had a bit about me and I knew he knew that I knew what I was on about after I'd spoke to him in depth about some stuff and then yeah eventually he ended up like really liking me in the end and [12:36] you know we got along so yeah I think it's just a sometimes it's like persistence and trying to break through a bit of confidence as well yeah I think it goes to show as well like that I know we still had a chat before we start filming and things like that and you know with um sometimes you can get like you know customers or potential clients things like that that are um slightly maybe gender sensitive and and things and it's how much harder sometimes you do have to work as a woman to like win over those um different types of people and like almost prove yourself to an extent yeah even though you are completely knowledgeable you know exactly what you're doing you're super ambitious and amazing [13:14] um it's unfortunately there is still that little bit of uh actually you do need to work that little bit harder to to prove that as well isn't that yeah definitely and I think it's a when it comes down to that for me it's like I need to make sure I'm I'm coming with the technical expertise and I come back up what I'm presenting to them and then it it kind of comes across a bit better but yeah it's it's definitely improved anyway yeah oh you got that and that's fantastic um so in terms of just right you're based in the UK and EU is that right yeah so we're a global manufacturing company but um we have a head office in EU and we have the the UK base as well so the whole of EU is like and service out about Neverland site [14:00] so it's like one big site there and then the UK we've got since the Brexit word we've got our own warehouse and providing everything to to all the customers across the UK from there amazing do you ever get to see any of the manufacturing of the just right for that side of the thing yeah so we um we've got at the Netherlands head office um we've got the no tracks and mats that are cut there so anything where someone will order like an anti fatigue or a slip mat or might be like an entrance mat and they are custom cut on site so we can see them going through the whole process there we've also got um a logo machine which you know when you got those entrance mats where it might say like money ton on it in big letters [14:42] we've got one of them and when you see that in action it's like really cool actually goes goes through like a giant washing machine at the end yeah it's good and then um one of our most popular products which is the rigid lock quick burn um that we make that is made all by hand in the Netherlands um so that's really cool to see cause they can make them like 25 meters by 25 meters and last time I was over there they had like a big one out and they're putting that together so yeah I get to see get to see it up uh up close and personal as well yeah fantastic you mentioned I'm yeah I'm t v t Matt in there have you got any like we've obviously in our warehouse we we look at all of those types of things for like the well being um [15:24] standing on your feet for a long time and and all of that anti fatigue matting's a A1 that we we sell a lot of um and we also use a lot of here at my stand you got any examples where sort of just the importance of of having those things in place yeah definitely I've got a few few stories think so there was one that always sticks out to me all the time is I went to a site visit for a chemical manufacturer and I was waiting for the health and safety lady was meeting so sat downstairs and she was like I'm so sorry I was late so I've been on the phone to one of my um employees he's been off sick he's just had some surgery she was like now we think he's got our other surgery and she's telling me about it [16:05] so turns out that the surgery he had was um due to some muscular skeletal disorder that he'd got so she was new to health and safety so she was like listen you being here on this site visit for me is like great cause like just throw everything at me cause I'm gonna learn on on the job so first thing I do when I get in there the fumes hit me I'm like oh God it's it was it was strong so we get in there the fumes are pretty pretty strong she was like yeah it's it's strong fumes in here and then she was going through all the processes with me and there's loads of people working stood up and I was like have you got any anti fatigue mats at all and she was like what's that so then I told her about it [16:47] and I was telling her about the all the benefits of it that improves productivity that it's a reduces absenteeism and also it helps reduce musculoskeletal disorders which obviously the guy who is off sick had one so she was like right OK she was like so if he had this this could have like potentially prevented it and I was like potentially yeah as he stood up all day and she was explaining that basically he'd been working there for I think it was either 21 or 22 years basically doing like six to eight hour shifts stood up all day wow and not a single person had an anti fatigue mat in there so in the end she she had some samples of us to test cause she had a very um particular environment it wasn't just like a standard anti fatigue mat [17:32] I needed to be like a ESD rated so it was a it working with the machinery as well and then yes she she ended up placing some orders after that to to get some mats for everyone wow I such a like real life story almost cause we talk about these products anyway we go yeah oh you know you need anti pigmentation or you need this thing or that thing but then to hear actually how it could have prevented uh this for somebody um yeah I mean how many other businesses you know maybe in the same boat or like that you know they should be doing the same thing yeah there's there's loads of them on the majority of places you go to whether it's like you went to the the corner shop and someone stood up behind the till all day [18:16] they stood there you're going to the pharmacy someone stood up pharmacist in the back putting together all medication packs like every kind of application you go to whether it's like manufacturing or not there's someone stood up like a lot of businesses as well have stand up desks and you know when you got a stand up desk there's a stand up desk mat that that we have as well so I think yeah people are kind of shifting towards looking after the staff a bit more and being a bit more savvy about what they can do to help people's lives improve at work so I've got lots of stories about the mats but yeah that one it's it that one always is a bit more of a punchline for me because you know someone was ill to the point that they've been off work [18:57] so before anti fatigue mats were even being used I don't know how many people you know from from an older generation is are probably impacted by that now hmm hmm yeah definitely I think even to I think about when we go and do the shows as well um and the guys are moaning about being on their feet for such a long time so after we did the first like one or two I think at the NCA and things like that we were like right we really need to get some matting for like where we're still on the trade stands as well yeah because yeah that's um yeah it really and your back hurts after a few days you've done the show so you know yeah it's that's it like a way I always explain it to people is that if you stood at like [19:37] a bus stop or you stood in a queue at a shop you like naturally like lean on one side to the other and you do get a bit of backache or a bit of you know joint ache as well so just having one makes makes the world a difference for sure yeah hundred percent so what sort of is there anything coming with just right safety over the next year or anything like that that oh like watch this space oh new products oh yeah new products or anything yeah so we've actually got something um going through at the moment is this an exclusive yeah it's an exclusive yeah this is an exclusive for the UK only so um we have got safety projectors coming and which I was like safety projectors and we've had a load of training on it now [20:22] and so safety projectors what we've essentially got is instead of you know the tape or stickers that you might have in a manufacturing warehouse for example or in logistics you've got those big tape lines or you might have like a zebra crossing that's painted on the floor it's essentially um a motion sensor so say for example there was a projector here with a motion sensor and you'd kind of walked past then it would it would come on to basically light up a zebra crossing or like a stop sign or like a forklift one and there's also um there's there's like so many of them I can't explain how many there is I think just on the physical pictures that project onto the floor I think there's like at least 60 of them [21:09] and you can also have like customized ones as well wow and so that's that's becoming more popular now um in the UK so it's a product that we've done in the USA for over five years now so we've brought it over to the EU and the UK is the first place it's been like approved to sell it now so that's coming um and it also does we've got an LED line one so if there's one way you want to essentially Mark out a bay where it might be somewhere where you can't have painting or stickers on the floor um it's it's an option there as well so actually I went to a site visit yesterday and I was asking them if they had some you trying to get some voice to the customer and ask them about it and they said we have actually been looking into it [21:51] because this area that they're in cause it's food and beverage they're not allowed to have certain um chemicals on the floor or paint or stickers so he said you know that's definitely something we'll look at so yeah that is what's coming safety projectors yeah that's really interesting I'd love to see how that works like in sort of like warehouses and like all these other places like you see but that's really interesting new product yeah so it's a bit more it's a bit more um with the 21st century on on the product side so yeah I was like oh this is technical but they showed us um in the training some samples of of some sites that they've done I've did a project with like IKEA and some other [22:32] some other areas as well so yeah I'm looking forward to that yeah that's amazing well if anyone listening is interested in um in that then yeah absolutely let us know we'll come we'll come see you on site or bring Lydia and we'll have a look at your space and see what we can do see what we can do how exciting um so I suppose uh we always say to people as well that like the end of like doing the podcast and things like that as well is if you were to speak to a company today or somebody that was listening to the podcast and they're like oh we're I don't know maybe their health and safety they wanna expand it or they wanna be doing better and what's like a piece of advice or something you would say to a [23:09] to a company so I think my first piece of advice would be what issues have you had already if you have had any some places have never had an issue and they're lucky and some other places have had a few issues so for me first thing I'm gonna look at on site is out is has a got have I got anything hazardous whether it's a lithium battery whether it's chemicals whether it's some aerosol cans or whether there's nothing dangerous there but they just wanna protect the premises or people so I'd say look at what you've got and how your staff feel on site have they got issues that they're coming to about health concerns at work or anything like that I think start with the basics but and for anyone that has got hazardous materials [23:55] I'd definitely say look up some some cost guidance for sure and but also like ultimately if you just need some some technical advice definitely reach out because there's been site visits over the years that I've been to where potentially they might not need any products other than an upgrade on what they've they've got already to just have a better solution so in that case it might be they've got things on site that maybe and not fitting with regulations but if they just change something it could it could do the world of good so yeah also technical advice we can help with yeah it's been really really interesting to like listen to that and understand see what's coming next year I think just raising awareness overall is like super important um [24:40] I think last time we spoke uh we we chatted a lot as well about what just right are doing for like people and the planet hmm um so rather than it just being like I don't know solely health and safety it was actually about what does that mean for people rather than just the health and safety side and and what that means um but yeah we love working with you it's one of our so do we we love working in Manhattan as well yes everyone's always so lovely here so it makes it nicer I didn't pay her to say that I really didn't [25:12] thank you so much for coming on the show it's been lovely having you no thanks for having us it's been great thank you very much alright thank you