After a few disrupted COVID-19 years, LEEA was finally presented with the opportunity to host LiftEx in Australia and New Zealand. Featuring an exhibition from key suppliers, a plethora of speeches on best-practice business and a major announcement regarding the Certificate IV course, hear from ANZ Regional Manager Justin Boehm on how the event transpired – and what the future holds for LiftEx.
Situated next to the Darling Harbour with the sun gleaming off the water, Sydney’s Maritime Museum plays host to a range of events. On the 24th of May, the Lighthouse Gallery was teeming with lifting, rigging and business professionals for the debut of LiftEx in Australia.
Run by the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), the event sought to bring together and showcase those with a commitment to sustainability, best practice, and innovation in the lifting equipment industry. As LEEA’s Australia & New Zealand regional manager Justin Boehm says, “it was just awesome”.
“They’re a great team at the Maritime Museum, and it was the perfect location,” he says. “Sydney gave us perfect weather; the showcase was awesome; the venue was brilliant.”
As covered in last month’s edition of Cranes and Lifting, those in attendance were privy to a special announcement from LEEA’s regional manager: the announcement of the Certificate IV in lifting and equipment testing and inspection. Labelling it a “game changer” on the day, Justin noted the reception from LEEA’s membership base has been overwhelmingly positive with members holding a high interest in starting the course as soon as possible.
“The members are very keen to get their hands on it because it’s another path to recognition for our techs: the guys that make our industry what it is,” he says. “So, it’s an incredibly positive development for the industry.”
Justin also highlighted the influential role Tasmania-based skill-services organisation Artibus played in in aiding the development of the Certificate IV course.
“They helped us over an 18-month period: with the set-up of the course, industry consultations, interviews, site visits – the lot,” he adds. “They helped us get letters of support from different bodies, they put us in touch with government departments; really, they made the entire process smooth.”
It wasn’t just the announcement of the Certificate IV course that stole the spotlight at LiftEx, however. With a range of speakers from different sectors of business and life being platformed at the conference, the event shed light on aspects of running and conducting business in the lifting industry that may not have been entirely transparent otherwise.
At the forefront of those speeches was futurist Charles Brass, whose talk revolved around planning for an unpredictable future by factoring in as many variables over an extended period and planning accordingly.
“Charles encouraged people to sharpen their view back from a business plan for the next 10 years,” says Justin. “It was about helping businesses plan by using a futurist mentality, and plotting the variables on a chart by just asking if something might happen, and how big that impact may be.”
As well as engaging businesses on what their future might look like and how to plan in an increasingly unpredictable environment, LiftEx also featured a range of speakers exploring success in business on different levels. Alison Earl, a mindset and behaviour expert, Brett Cowell, Founding Partner and Director at Cowell-Clark, and Federica Gargiuli from Talent Supply, covered staff satisfaction, cybersecurity, and finding the right person for the right job respectively.
“Alison broached businesses and the way they engaged with their staff and make sure that their staff are continually feeling appreciated and understood about how they work,” said Justin. “One of her more fascinating points was how the brain reacted to stress and anxiety – the fight or flight response, and the chemical reactions that occur in the brain.”
READ MORE: How LEEA is addressing the skills gap.
“Brett, on the other hand, discussed cybersecurity, and essentially it’s not a matter of if they have a cyber-attack, but when – therefore, it’s up to businesses to plan accordingly,” he continued. “One of his most interesting points was that, obviously, you’re trying to eliminate that risk; but, you need to be aware that it’s probably going to happen, given how much activity there is undertaken online.”
On Federica Gargiuli, Justin noted “a lot” of members share their concern about not being able to get the right people or finding staff, and the director at Talent Supply “highlighted” that people get pigeonholed in the recruitment process, resulting in tunnel vision when trying to find the right person.
“Essentially, she was encouraging attendees to not go and look for ‘the’ gun recruit, but instead find someone with transferrable skills working in a different industry – or even internally,” he said. “It was really good to have her up there exploring that issue.”
One of LEEA’s key pillars is its commitment to sustainability, as highlighted by a video posted on Earth Day (April 22) featuring Justin outlining several environmentally friendly initiatives by the association’s members. In line with this outlook, the Stewardship Council’s Centre of Excellence’s Rose Read also gave a speech to LEEA’s attending members surrounding sustainability, the reuse of discarded materials and reducing environmental waste.
“Rose encouraged us to talk about our options when it comes to reusing the materials we would otherwise throw away and consider how we could recycle them into something else,” says Justin. “I think a lot of the members have a good story that we just don’t tell it, right; we’ve got a lot of good initiatives happening with the recyclability of steel, but what we don’t have use for is all those products that are polyester or nylon base or have those materials in them, and that was why Rose’s speech was so enlightening.”
Justin says the quality of products showcased at the exhibit was equal to the quality of content coming from the speeches. Having sponsors including Blacksnake, Unilift, PIP Global Safety, Pacific Hoists and Andromeda Industries back in the room after a period away due to COVID-19 restrictions was not only great for attendees, but also a chance to showcase what LEEA does for its members, Justin added.
Looking to the future, Justin says LiftEx will be taking a more targeted approach.
“Next year’s LiftEx will be an exhibition lead event, which is different to this year,” he says.
“Oil & gas, mining, infrastructure, construction and ports will all be targeted in the next edition so those attending can witness first-hand the products, services and technologies that will influence their businesses.”
“Ultimately, for this year, we wanted to give members something really worthwhile to be a part of, and that was the thinking behind this conference; get all the members back in the room and show them that LEEA is really hitting the mark.”