Navigating safety and compliance across remote mining projects in the rugged red-dirt Australian Outback is no easy feat. Byblos Constructions proves it’s achievable with the help of the Mitti Platform.
less unnecessary site visits, reducing long-distance driving events
-30 hours saved weekly, totalling $60,000 a year in admin costs due to simpler reports compiling, action logs and less paperwork
saved annually in travel time and fuel, avoiding 40 hours a week of road time
Actions
Analytics
Assets
Heads Up
Inspections
Issues
Marketplace
Mitti Platform
Operating in the vast and isolated Australian Outback presents its unique challenges. But, for Byblos Constructions, it’s all in a day’s work.
With over 250 employees and contractors across eight active sites in Western Australia’s remote Pilbara region, they tackle everything from infrastructure maintenance to large-scale industrial projects for clients like Sodexo, government entities, and major mining companies.
Although the leading mining and construction group has been building in Australia’s iconic red dirt landscapes since 1976, their approach to safety and workflows is anything but old-school.
Brett Harrap, Byblos Constructions’ HSEQ Manager, plays a key role in building this culture of safety and accountability. His push for smarter, more connected systems over his 15-year tenure led to the adoption of the SafetyCulture platform, transforming how teams manage safety and compliance on-site.
Operating in such remote areas means we must be adaptable and efficient. SafetyCulture has been a game-changer for us.
Before adopting SafetyCulture in 2017, Byblos Constructions found it challenging to communicate knowledge between sites and the office.
“One of our biggest challenges was the sheer amount of knowledge that needed to be retained and shared with the right people,” says Brett Harrap, HSEQ Manager.
Valuable knowledge and skills were often buried in paperwork or stuck in the minds of skilled workers and contractors. Without a clear process in place, common issues on-site rarely made it further up the chain.
Over time, the gaps in knowledge and skills transfer became hard to ignore. It was clear they needed a simpler, more connected way to share information and keep compliance on track.
Byblos Constructions works with multiple clients, trades, and projects at once — and each comes with its own set of requirements. To cut through the complexity and make an impact, they started small: shifting simple compliance checks from paper to digital Inspections. From there, the benefits quickly became clear.
We used to have to go to the office to get information, print it out, and go out to site. Having the information accessible everywhere has been the turning point for us. Our people have all the information they need, and they can make decisions in the field. It’s effectively eliminated the wastage of unnecessary trips, whether it’s a 15-minute walk to the car or a four-hour drive through harsh, remote environments.
Over time, the SafetyCulture platform became a core part of their day-to-day and, whenever possible, their client processes too.
Now, all safety checklists, compliance checks, and risk assessments are done through SafetyCulture.
The team has completed over 100,000 digital Inspections to date. Workers now have r emote access to real-time information, saving around 100 hours in travel time each week, which roughly translates to saving $250,000 a year.
This has ultimately led to fewer long-distance driving events, which come with the risk of fatigue and microsleeps, the region’s number-one safety concern.
Not only that, Brett estimates the team is spending 50% less time compiling reports, action logs, and paperwork, adding up to a total of 20-30 hours saved per week in admin time alone and approximately $60,000 saved in admin costs every year.
Going digital also means that Byblos Constructions can deliver a better client experience, with improved visibility, streamlined compliance tracking, and improved impact in the field.
“We work with big mining clients, so our commitment to pre-task hazard assessments and deployment of critical risk management (CRM) in the field is key to our work,” Brett says. “SafetyCulture allows us to deploy digital versions of our CRM tools, ensuring full participation across our work fronts.”
Teams can now instantly notify leaders and work teams of risks, allowing them to act on high-priority issues, sometimes within minutes, minimizing any potential blind spots. These issues are all compiled in one place, so Byblos Constructions can further mitigate risk.
“The Analytics dashboards allow us to provide detailed, highly tailored, and live information to our leadership team and to our clients,” Brett says. “It helps us track KPIs and make sure our risk management tools are working as intended.”
For Brett, it all comes back to clarity and accountability.
The flow of information and notifications are essential for maintaining accountability across different areas of the business.
Managing equipment and vehicles in such a harsh environment is no small feat. From light vehicles to working-at-height gear, Byblos Constructions uses Assets to maintain detailed service histories for every piece of equipment. This means that any worker – whether they’re permanent or a contractor – can jump in at any stage and have visibility over the current condition, performance or location of their assets.
“Skilled mechanics are hard to come by out here,” Brett says. “With SafetyCulture, even new or temporary mechanics can scan a QR code to see exactly what work has been done on an asset and what’s due next.”
The shift to preventative maintenance has led to fewer breakdowns, less unplanned downtime, decreased vehicle maintenance costs, and 30% fewer reactive repairs. It’s hard to put a number on peace of mind, but Brett puts it simply:
I estimate the platform has paid for itself tenfold over the past five years.
Embracing SafetyCulture has made a significant safety impact and shifted Byblos Constructions’ internal culture. With the help of Issues, workers now have a sharper way to capture and resolve issues before they escalate.
“If a planning tool highlights something like missing training or a tool needing calibration, an action is created straight away,” Brett explains. “It means we can close the loop and refine our approach before work begins.”
Using Issues for hazard reporting has built trust across all levels, with the team now submitting around 70% more hazards due to easier mobile submissi ons. Plus, teams can continuously track and get instant updates on the status of each issue.
“When they raise an issue or suggest improvements through the platform, it goes straight to the right pair of eyes. So workers know it will be taken seriously.” Brett says.
This immediate visibility allows them to address problems before they escalate, ensuring that safety is a priority that’s shared by everyone.
“Accountability isn’t a bad word – it’s actually an important thing within the business,” Brett says. “The platform has empowered our workers, and it helps distribute responsibility appropriately so one person is not accountable for the whole lot.”
In remote locations, like the Australian Outback, it can be hard to get critical messages through. That’s how Heads Up became an essential tool for communicating with teams across the region.
Previously, communications were heavily focused on group meetings, noticeboards, and emails. Now, Byblos Constructions can send urgent updates directly to field teams, addressing a huge challenge with a FIFO workforce spread over a large geographical area.
“Heads Up ensures that everyone is on the same page immediately, including our contracting partners on our platform,” Brett says. “It allows us to communicate last-minute changes effectively, including important site- and project-specific updates, which our clients find fantastic. Our teams are the most informed and prepared when on-site, which elevates our reputation and compliance.”
Keeping supply rooms fully stocked is critical for Byblos Constructions. When items like PPE or first aid supplies went missing or ran low, the lack of visibility across remote sites made it hard to restock on time for when they needed it the most. That’s why Byblos Constructions streamlined the process with SafetyCulture Marketplace.
They do a weekly scheduled inspection of each of their supply rooms. If items are identified as missing or below minimum thresholds, it triggers an order in real-time, ensuring every site always remains stocked and prepared.
“Working with Marketplace has allowed us to maintain a strict adherence to standards for procurement,” Brett says. “It lets us leverage the ‘approved cataloging’ system to ensure all items meet their strict requirements – be it the cut and impact level of gloves or the required attenuation for hearing protection devices.”
Marketplace has been great for us. It’s solved so many headaches we’ve had with supply issues. It’s one location where we can get our orders done. The Marketplace team understands our needs and ensures procurement options.
While Byblos Constructions primarily uses SafetyCulture for safety management, they’re exploring the potential for quality management and new ways to integrate it with other platforms. They’re particularly excited about the possibility of digitizing inspection test plans (ITPs) for field use, including integrating such templates and inspections into existing project management software platforms via API integration.
With SafetyCulture’s all-in-one platform in their hands, every Byblos Constructions worker can take ownership, maintain high safety standards, and stay connected. And Byblos Constructions can be confident that their teams continue to deliver exceptional client experiences, every time.
In an industry where reputation is everything, Byblos Constructions’ innovative use of SafetyCulture shows how a brand can shift and shape its industry’s landscape and cement its legacy.
