ASX listed company Boom Logistics is held in high regard when it comes to crane services and associated operations. As the business evolves, there is an increasing focus on its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) aspects. Boom Logistics National Operations Manager Rod Welfare elaborates on the company’s initiatives to reduce emissions, promote diversity and inclusion and engage with local communities.
As National Operations Manager Rod Welfare says: “As an ASX listed company, governance has always been a part of Boom Logistics and as we move forward, ESG is certainly a priority.”
Operating in his current position for two years, Rod boasts a 16-year career in the crane industry, with all but 10 months spent at Boom Logistics, working his way up from Cranes and Rigging Supervisor back in 2007. Prompted by Boom’s recent acquisition of the Tadano AC4.80-1 with an E-Pack – which featured in the May edition of Cranes and Lifting – Rod acknowledges that hybrid and electronic cranes are “certainly something we’re exploring at the moment”.
“There’s still work to be done before the crane industry can go fully electric in terms of logistics, availability, and technology,” he says. “We are going to stay at the forefront of these new initiatives and keep ourselves open to employing them within our business.”
With environmental, social and governance policies driving value propositions, including prioritising safety and zero harm strategies within the business, Boom Logistics is exploring a plethora of different environmentally-friendly initiatives including oil sampling and filtration, and the reuse of wire ropes.
Piloting the oil sampling program in Queensland, Boom Logistics is draining cranes of oil, putting it through filtration systems that clean it and then reusing it. As Rod says, it’s in line with the Three Rs: “reduce, reuse, recycle”.
“Hydraulic oil obviously plays an important role with the cranes and travel towers that we run, and the more we can reduce the consumption the more we’re helping the environment,” he says. “This is a strategy that’s really gathering traction now; we’ve seen a significant increase in hydraulic oil life because we’re able to polish the oil and reuse it safely.”
Another program Boom Logistics is closely examining is the reuse of wire ropes and how to optimise longevity before they are made redundant.
“We have a significant amount of wire rope that is made redundant on an ongoing basis. We are developing a non-destructive testing program where we x-ray the ropes and inject the right materials back into the wire ropes to extend their longevity. It’s not the cheapest option, but it’s certainly the better one for the environment which can only help in the long run,” he says.
Further to its ongoing commitment to zero harm, Boom Logistics is committed to the development and implementation of sustainable practices in an effort to meet its social responsibility obligations and continuously improve its sustainability performance.
One of the identified areas for improvement is the logistics involved in shifting cranes from job to job. After all, emissions can be reduced by operating a crane with e-packs, lower-emission fuels and more environmentally friendly engines but, as Rod underscores: “aside from the introduction of new technologies, we are able to make improvements to our sustainability efforts through good planning and optimising our current activities.”
“As an example, one of our clients in South Australia had a planned shutdown recently; we had equipment on site and we had people flying in and out. Through optimised scheduling and other practices, we were able to reduce the length of the shutdown, reduce the amount of travel, and ended up saving eight tonnes of carbon emissions,” he said.
READ MORE: Boom Logistics, Tadano a match made in heaven.
Discussing Boom’s GPS systems and live telematics, he adds that the allocation, supervision, and management teams know exactly where every asset is at a point in time to optimise efficiency and avoid travel duplication.
“We don’t want a scenario where one crane is going down a highway to finish a job, while another crane is coming back from site,” he says. “With fuel burn and other practices like reducing wear and tear on the equipment, it’s quite easy to quantify savings in our carbon footprint production,” he said.
And it’s not just cranes and equipment that Boom Logistics is targeting to enhance its environmental performance and reduce emissions. Other initiatives include plans to provide staff with E-vehicles and installing charging stations at facilities and, in an effort to think outside the box, using QR codes to replace physical business cards — something Rod describes as a “small step”” but one that ultimately contributes to helping out across the board.
“The QR Codes hold all your business details and, when you’re out and about, others can scan the QR code rather than being handed a physical a business card,” he says. “It shows that we’re looking at those “one-percenters” at a depot level.”
In addition to enhancing their sustainability practices, Boom Logistics is also committed to expanding its efforts when it comes to diversity in the crane industry. Having been in the game for as long as he has, Rod knows the industry can improve on technical and holistic attitudes when it comes to promoting inclusion in the workforce and is committed to establishing Boom as an industry leader in the field, saying “meaningful changes” are being made at Boom Logistics to try and enact a more “inclusive and diverse workforce.”
“We’ve published updates to our recruitment policy,” he says. “Some of the key issues we’ve included pertain to guidelines around inclusive advertising. For example, some of our job advertisements used the term dogmen and we are now using the more inclusive term dogger.”
Acknowledging the gender disparity in the crane industry, Rod is also keen to highlight Boom’s approach toward tackling the passive sexism some job adverts can contain, especially when it comes to working away from home and being away from family commitments.
“We’ve chosen to focus on the specific job requirement and leave it up to the applicants to decide if the job is a good fit for their lifestyle rather than make that decision for them,” he said. “In our policy, we have guidelines around bias and selection bias for our recruiters so when they are working through the recruiting process, it will be more inclusive for everyone.”
But this push is not just confined to gender diversity. Boom’s ESG initiatives also extend to the work it does with surrounding Indigenous communities. With some of its remote operations featuring higher representations of Indigenous employees, the company enacts several initiatives that emphasise meaningful action rather than just rhetoric displayed on a web page.
“When we started working on our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) it was important that it’s wasn’t just HR or managers saying, ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do’. It was important to receive considered input from our teams and local Indigenous community members, so we can make decisions with meaning and with intention that have a real impact,” he said.
Boom’s community outreach programs extend past their initiatives with Indigenous communities too. Immersing themselves in local sports clubs at a grassroots level. Rod states that Boom’s involvement is a “big thing” for both the company and the recipients. Currently sponsoring the Norths Rugby Union Club – both the men’s and women’s teams – in Brisbane, Rod says that sponsorship benefits exist outside of monetary value.
“We try and provide them with equipment and to aid their operations wherever we can. On top of that, we do provide monetary sponsorship and our assets are available to them for tasks such as television filming, etc.” he says.
“Additionally, we’ve organised a signed Dolphins jersey through the NRL and we’ll raffle this off during the mental health round in July, donating all proceeds to a mental health charity,” he says. “We like to think that being a good corporate citizen involves being a part of and giving back to the communities in which we operate.”
“We are engaged with local communities and rather than come in, do what we do, and leave, we want to be a part of the community.”
READ MORE: Ben Pieyre announced as CEO of Boom Logistics.