BlueCare

When you hear the term ‘manual handling’ you could be forgiven for having your eyes glaze over.

But the truth is how we lift, push and pull loads at work is serious business, and when done incorrectly can lead to significant injuries, especially in an aged-care environment.

So, how do we make a manual handling mindset shift relevant, engaging and meaningful? With an artful dance of science, stats and sequence…

The Client

BlueCare is one of Queensland’s largest and most trusted providers of in-home care, residential aged care, disability services and retirement living.

As an organisation, they are committed to empowering their clients to live life their way.

BlueCare

The Challenge

The Aged Care and Community Support industry is brimming with organisational safety measures and procedures that are practised to provide consistently safe and effective care to clients.

With many BlueCare staff having extensive, long-term experience in the industry, we were called upon to provide assistance in the roll-out of a fresh approach to mainstay safety practices to reiterate the importance of these measures and engage the staff and clients in a modern approach to workplace safety. The goal was to have people pause and think before they step in to conduct manual handling procedures.

BlueCare

The Solution

We crafted a modern, upbeat and culturally aligned Safety Culture roadmap for BlueCare to roll out across all of its locations and departments.

Specifically, we focused on changing the language around manual handling amongst staff, leaders and even when communicating with clients receiving care.

Titled “We All Move Differently”, the launch focused on communicating the importance of assessing the situation when approaching manual handling with clients. We co-created a set of ‘Dances’ that ensured that staff were getting their moves right and finding their groove. Every dance move required participants to pause, consider which step will work best in their current situation, and then dance.

This immersive culture change program was rolled out to over 10,000 staff members and included the development of floor decals, posters and an animated launch video to effectively communicate and reiterate the desired change in safety culture.

Residents loved hearing from staff the question, “Are you ready to dance?”

BlueCare
BlueCare
BlueCare
BlueCare

The Outcome

Since collaborating with Pragmatic Thinking on the development of the Safety Culture roadmap, BlueCare have seen noticeable improvements in behaviour surrounding manual handling and internal communication.

Shannon Ahern

Testimonial

BlueCare

‘Within 2 months we had a very professional, polished, non-beige product that we got out to over 10,000 people across QLD and NT. We got all our safety advisors and learning and development coordinators on board with extraordinary results’.

Shannon Ahern

Manager WHS and Workers Compensation