Pegasus

Woolworths Limited

Overview

Woolworths Limited is an Australian success story. From a single shop in 1924 it has grown to become the largest retailer in Australia by both sales and market capitalisation and is also the largest food retailer in the country.

In a 2010 report by global accounting firm Deloitte, Woolworths Limited is listed as the 19th largest retailer in the world.

Across 17 trusted brands, the business employs more than 190,000 people in over 3000 outlets and boasts turnover in excess of $50 billion. The Sydney support office houses more than 3,000 staff alone.

To ensure all fixtures and equipment remain in good working order, Woolworths Limited employs almost 500 different businesses throughout Australia to undertake on site repair and maintenance work.

In 2008, Woolworths Limited asked Pegasus to provide contractor compliance services for all of its Australian retail sites to ensure its high expectations of contractor performance were met in all markets, especially in relation to adhering to strict safety protocols.

Woolworths Limited

The Challenge

After several years of significant growth, the Engineering Maintenance Service Division (EMS – formerly known as the Assets Service Group) at Woolworths Limited was challenged with maintaining an ever growing, paper based contractor monitoring program across its significant portfolio of stores.

Different brands within the group had their own policies and procedures for hosting maintenance personnel in store and these also often varied by region and between states.

Larger contractors operating in multiple locations were also required to meet different criteria in different markets making it difficult to relocate specialist contractors. Acceptable behaviour at one location may not meet the desired standard at another.

Woolworths Limited realised a uniform procedure for managing contractors must be implemented across all retail operations within the group regardless of size, function or location. This process would cover the following functions:

• Identifying and registering prospective contracting businesses - applicants submit copies of documents that cover legislative requirements such as public liability, workers compensation and professional indemnity.
• Appraising applicants on the strength of a self assessment audit to ensure each business has the required level of qualifications and that supporting documentation is all up to date.
• Facilitating a nationwide online induction program to convey the site safety requirements to every individual who intends to visit and work at any Woolworths Limited site.
• Consulting with suppliers and contractors regarding any identified deficiencies that could prevent them from meeting the standards that have been set.
• Establishment of an onsite training register to ensure all records are stored in a safe, secure place and are readily accessible to Woolworths Limited management.

Woolworths Limited

The Solution

Pegasus was chosen to implement and drive this program over other national suppliers based on our ability provide an efficient and reliable pre-qualification service. This service registers and audits all contracting companies that are engaged by Woolworths Limited and then inducts the contractor’s employees.

As part of this process Pegasus verified compliance against Woolworths Limited’s vendor safety management process for almost 1000 companies Australia-wide.

We then converted content in the Woolworths Limited contractor handbook into an online induction program accessible via any internet connection 24/7, 365 days a year. Every approved contractor is required to undertake this induction. The induction module includes an exam and the results are completely visible to Woolworths Limited management. Questionnaire results allow them to identify any knowledge gaps or potential issues in the safety management process.

The training and qualifications register is administered by Pegasus’s industry leading contractor tracking software, Onsite Track Easy. Through this web-based program, Woolworths Limited management have access to all safety and training records of all contractors in real time.
Finally, contractors who successfully register and complete the induction are issued with a Pegasus Safety identification card that will identify them as an endorsed contractor to store management at any Woolworths Limited site in the country.

Woolworths Limited work with Pegasus to undertake four random audits each quarter. These comprehensive audits occur at the offices or workshops of contracting businesses and ensure these companies maintain the strict standards required to maintain their status as an approved contractor.

Woolworths Limited

The Results

The Pegasus Safety Division includes experts in compliance and risk mitigation and has a combined experience of over 150 years. The team established its credentials in the mining and mine services sector but, in more recent years, has worked in the transport, manufacturing, logistics and professional services sector and now boast a broad range of clients across every state and territory.

Working closely with the EMS Division at Woolworths Limited, Pegasus has changed the face of contractor management in the retail sector.

Woolworths Limited has been so impressed with the systems put in place by Pegasus they have implemented the same program at the 14 Distribution Centres they operate throughout Australia and their three Sydney-based corporate offices at Minchinbury, Bella Vista and Pennant Hills.

Woolworths Limited are also set to engage the Pegasus Safety Division to implement and manage the contractor management process at its exciting new home improvements business, Masters, which is launching later this year.

All told, over 900 contracting businesses have already been assessed and thousands of individual inducted.

The EMS Division has also endorsed the Pegasus system to its Services Group which managers other service providers such as cleaners, trolley collectors and other hygiene and waste related businesses. These third parties are now also part of the new safety regime at Woolworths Limited.

The importance of onsite safety and effective contractor management has quickly permeated through the entire Woolworths Limited business and has bought a new level of efficiency to their business.

It’s clear to see that Pegasus has made a positive impact!