I started my career in mining at the age of 23 and my first mining job was at a warehouse at an underground mine. Coming from management in the media industry, I quickly became accustomed to the vast differences mining had to offer. There were the obviously blatant differences- the fact that I often went home with a coal clad face and had developed a repertoire of words that were specific to the mining industry, but it was the inherent dangers on a mine site that astounded me. Mining, oil, and gas industries are all workplaces that require each individual crew member to carry out their part in the day to day, to ensure their crew is safe through-out each shift. Never have you felt the true notion of friendship and comradery until you have worked in these industries. The personnel underground rely on one another to hear, see, feel, and smell changes in their environment. They have so many unanticipated and unmitigated risks at hand that it takes the entire crew to be connected and alert, to observe and control hazards. It’s sometimes a case of life and death to have your senses switched on.

Often the communication between crews and up to middle management is far from transparent and this is where Obzervr can really change the connectivity and relationships between crews, management, and individuals. Obzervr allows teams to become connected via the implementation of a digital workforce. The empowered digital workforce gives meaning to data and analytics through powerful insights and allows teams to work in real time. It allows middle management (planners, coordinators, supervisors, superintendents, Deputy’s and OCE’s) an easy way to schedule works to their crews via the use of various dashboards that allow them to re-schedule, change the jobs in which their crews are assigned, and progress works up and down workflows to suit real time requirements. It allows trades and field workers to schedule flow on/ break in work orders in real time, instead of being sat on a planner’s desk for a week prior to being scheduled. What’s more, teams and crews are being connected through dashboards that provide them with an insight as to what has been done and what there is still to do. There are no grey areas or lapses in time establishing what is still to be done; Every detail is seen within the dashboard. By allowing teams to communicate more effectively on real time insights adds credibility to the work that has been done. It allows middle management to get a clear look into whether their scheduling of workorders is accurate or whether the 2000hr service takes 5 hours instead of the allocated 4… which is of great benefit when KPI’s are accurate and therefore achievable.