OHS Harmonisation Update BB

Hamish moved to Perth in 1998, having grown up and studied in Melbourne.  His elder brother liked the geology teacher at school, and Hamish remembers looking at his brother’s notes from class and being equally interested in the subject.  When it came time to decide how to earn a living, his father told him ‘there are two types of people in this world Hamish.  There are those who want to make the pie bigger, and there are those who want to divvy the current pie up’.  Hamish decided that being an engineer was about ‘making the pie bigger’.  After his initial studies at RMIT, he spent 3 years at ‘GC Black & Associates’, 4 years at ‘Soil & Rock Engineering’ (“which at least described exactly what we did!”), 7 years at ‘Coffey’ and the last year at ‘Golder’.  Moving from a publically listed company to an employee-owned business has been a move he has clearly enjoyed.  “Our clients are in oil and gas, mining, civil infrastructure and land development.  It’s great to be in the industry at the moment, particularly in the mining states“ says Hamish with an excited glint in his eye.  He’s just in the process of completing his ‘Masters in Geotechnical Engineering’ through the University of New South Wales, is Secretary of the ‘Australian Geomechanics Society’ and a member of the ‘Institute of Engineers’.

I ask him about the key risks that he faces.  “Clearly, the risk we face is if we are blatantly wrong in the advice we provide.  The prospect of being sued for poor advice is ever present in the industry.  Even if the advice is not wrong, but it is not as comprehensive as it could be, clients will just go to our competitors.  Given that around half of the work in the industry is via competitive tender and half is through existing work, relationship management is key for us.  Interestingly, Perth has a higher proportion of geotechnical engineers than any of the other state capitals, illustrated by our industry CPD hours, which are larger than anywhere else….. except perhaps if Sydney has a big conference”, he says remembering the caveats that have protected him from litigation.  The best piece of risk-related advice he ever received was from his first employer, George Black.  George said ‘Can you justify what you have just done to a magistrate if something were to go wrong?’.  It’s a question that Hamish continues to ask of younger geotechnical engineers now. It’s evident that you have to serve your time in this field to be respected, and usually that process of moving up the ranks with experience would tend to lend itself to mentoring.  Hamish is adamant that it’s not his experience.  “Mentoring schemes look great on paper, but in my experience the personalities of engineers make them difficult to succeed in practice.  Engineers are practical people, who are keen to get on with the job in question.  We work within  a quality system that is externally audited, have an in-house lawyer to deal with contractual issues and a process that ensures that all technical work is peer reviewed before it is sent out.  If you take all of that alongside individual professional development and professional pride in what you do, then those are the best controls for making sure the advice you provide is correct”.  Hamish also tells me that the poorer practitioners don’t get used on the larger projects.  I cheekily ask him about the size of his projects, and he’s happy to rattle off the four on his desk at the moment.  “At present, I have four significant projects on the go.  One is a desk study for the Perth sports stadium, one is construction supports for the Gorgon project at Barrow Island, another for a proposed gas development  and lastly, a train  unloading facility in Port Hedland”.  The latter project relates back to the earlier drawing of a ‘car dumper’ (equipment which tips iron ore laden train carriages into a 25 metre pit for removal on a conveyor).  Hamish continues, “I make sure I get up to Port Hedland once a fortnight to validate the plans that have been drawn back in Perth, to answer any queries (out of interest, we’re presently on query 212, but only half of them are geotechnical-related), to make sure I’m seen and available.  To me, being there is relationship management and liability-limiting all in one recurring event”.

“One of the other main risks we face relates to onsite health and safety.  There is often equipment, large and small, that we’re interacting with or operating.  For example, we might be using large drill rigs which are dangerous pieces of kit, or we might be using smaller equipment like a ‘dynamic cone penetrometer’.  This involves driving a stake into the ground and dropping weights on it to understand the ground strength, but there wouldn’t be many geotechnical engineers who hadn’t lost a finger nail or worse on undertaking those tests.  I remember once that I was standing in a test pit, dug by a backhoe, when I saw a crack appear in the weak ground and just managed to lift myself out as the ground collapsed.  The health aspects can’t be downplayed either.  Geotechnical engineers will always be feeling soil onsite and then washing their hands.  Invariably, they walk around the site with dirty hands all day so it’s possible to pick up some nasty bugs.  Equally, sites present other issues that need to be managed.  On certain heritage sites, or ‘sites of significance’, we may have aboriginal monitors present to provide advice and ensure our treatment of the area is in keeping with their expectations.  Environmental aspects are always on our mind, but we bring in our own experts to provide that advice.

The wider issue for the industry is the real shortage of people.  At the moment, companies have to rely on bringing people in from inter-state, and farming out jobs to less busy state counterparts.  Many of our own people are also moving to the large mining companies for better remuneration, but I don’t believe it’s as exciting as being a consultant.  I love the variation in the work.”

As we’re finishing off our Guinness, Hamish tells me of his interests outside his professional field – his family, his WAFL teams (which he has whittled down to 4 that he continues to support after 13 years in the state) and his sporting loves.  As we’re leaving the pub, the conversation turns back to engineering, and one of his hero’s – C Y O’Connor.  Hamish tells me he will not read the West Australian or The Sunday Times today because of the criticism they handed out to O’Connor in the late 1800’s.  I offer him a lift home, but he waves me away and sets off at a brisk pace – thoughts of the injustice handed out to O’Connor still making him bristle.

Hamish onsite

‘From Primary School onwards, I always wanted to be a surgeon.  By Year 12, I had settled on general medicine, but narrowly missed out on the score I needed to study that at University.  It was my mum who suggested that I go into dentistry, with a view to using it as a bridging subject to achieve my aim of studying general medicine.  Once I started studying, I just knew dentistry was for me.  I’ve always had a love of arts and crafts, particularly woodwork, and I actually have a lathe in my back shed which I love working on.  It may sound a little odd to those not involved in this area, but being involved in dentistry allows me to produce works of art on a daily basis.  Dentistry involves doing initial diagnosis and then also the relevant treatment; the thought of working in general medicine, diagnosing but then providing many  referrals and prescriptions on a daily basis, doesn’t appeal to me at all now, although I still think being a surgeon would be great!.

What are the key risks you face?

The context in which the dentist works can be complex.  You have to be very dexterous, working with very sharp and very small instruments, whilst working in the back of a patient’s mouth, which is obviously full of saliva and  dark.  At the same time You’re interacting with your patient, and with your dental nurse.  Sometimes, the patient may have previously experienced a negative situation with a dentist and they’ve been psychologically damaged as a result, so there may be fear or a phobia emanating from the patient which you also have to manage and work with.

In that context, the key risk I face, which is remote but could have a significant impact, is that procedurally something could go wrong.  The consequence is always an unhappy patient.  Dentists use bleaching chemicals, and small items like endodontic files (these look like sharp pins and are used for root canal treatment).  As such, however remote, it’s always possible to spill a chemical onto a patient, drop something in their mouth, or catch their mouth or teeth when using the drill or polishing.  I remember when I was initially studying at Dental School, there was a student who was fitting a crown for a patient when it was dropped and the patient swallowed it.  The patient had to have a chest x-ray, and whilst there was no actual harm done, it made me very careful – stories like that tend to stick in your memory.  It should be said that we carry out hundreds of activities with patients every day, the vast majority of which never give rise to any negative consequences.

Treatment not resulting as the patient expects is common. Examples are a root canal treatment not resolving an abscess, a filling which gets decay under it  earlier than the patient was expecting, postoperative pain following an extraction, or cosmetic work not looking like the patient expected. There will be a level of dissatisfaction related to any unsuccessful procedure and this is related to patient expectations. Preventing these involves good communication, such as explanation of risks and benefits before undertaking a procedure,  expected success and failure rates, and making sure the dentist understands what a patient is expecting as a result of the procedure, and whether this is realistically achievable or not.

There is an emerging risk at a higher level of ‘Preferred Provider agreements’ between the health insurance provider companies and dentists.  This is the case in the US where dental discussions are heavily cost-related.  It results in  the insurance providers forcing patients to use dentists that they otherwise wouldn’t.  It may also lead to dentists undertaking treatment based on the insurance cover in place and what the insurer will pay for, rather than what may be in the best interests of the patient, which has all sorts of ethical ramifications. However, on the whole and certainly still in Australia, the relationship remains between patient and provider.  The ‘Australian Dental Association’ is intent on ensuring this relationship is maintained, and not letting health insurers dictate these clinical priorities.

How do you manage your key risks?

There is not much that can be done to manage ‘Preferred Provider agreements’ beyond keeping your patients happy.  The key to managing any adverse incident is always communication.  Good dentists apologise and explain, rather than ignore and cover up.  You also have to be incredibly sensitive as you’re dealing with people’s appearance, and often their self-esteem is tied up with that.  It’s always better to ask ‘what is it you don’t like about your teeth?’ and make sure you ask lots of questions of the patient until you have a clear picture of what they expect, rather than just progress with the work you think they need – which can result in disagreement at the end!  The key to me is to move dentistry towards a more comprehensive approach involving open-ended questions, interviewing and longer term planning.  Also, there is an obvious need to write good records to demonstrate ‘informed consent’ – that the patient were told, and understood the risks of the procedure before starting. Of course this has to be documented; I’m very attentive to my notes and records, try and maintain excellent communication, and I have to say,  I’ve never had a complaint against me.

Being part of a practice is very helpful, as we can manage all our risks collectively.  As an example, patient records are very important to us, so from an IT perspective we have multiple hard drives and the material is backed up daily and taken offsite.

Stress is also often part of the job. This is often related to time pressures. The practice setup helps us manage that with careful appointing, set times and prescribed days.  We allow forty to fifty minutes per appointment, to allow some flexibility and reduce this stress. You do hear about some dentists who only allow twenty minutes for appointments, which is difficult to comprehend and must lead to huge stress for the dentist.  We allow the time we expect to need, we don’t work in the evenings or excessively long hours, and consequently we’re fresh to deal with patients.  This allows us to get our mental attitude right.  We also do a lot of staff training, and every morning we have a staff huddle to talk about each patient we are meeting that day, so we are prepared with their laboratory work or issues to follow up or their potential nerves. Staff happiness also leads to a ‘lower stress’ practice, and historically, when meeting targets we have had team events. Last year we all went to meet Maggie Beer in the Barossa Valley so getting the team right is a big part of being part of a successful practice.

Has your approach changed over the years?

Originally, I lacked confidence and was very conservative.  Eight and a half years on, I have confidence, but I feel I’ve still retained my conservative nature – in a good way.  I attend many courses to broaden my knowledge, including a focus on how the bite/occlusion works and rebuilding worn down teeth. I’ve become much more holistic in my view of dentistry.  I’m undertaking further study in aspects of general practice, through the ‘Royal Australian College of Dental Surgeons’, which is a membership program for extra qualifications.  I’m always ensuring I am up to date in my continuing professional development.

Has the profession changed much over the years?

Dentistry has certainly become very popular with University students and is now over-subscribed, along with Medicine, Law and Engineering.  It has become much more evidence-based than when I first started out.  There has also been a growth in large dental practices.  These tend to be more competitive, often with higher staff turnover.  In my opinion, these can be ‘production line practices’ centered on dollars per hour.  They are a factor in other key risks for the profession; namely patient over-treatment and under-treatment.  ‘Over-treatment’ is offering unnecessary treatment when simpler treatment or no treatment is actually required.  This is not always driven by the dentist, as sometimes there can be pressures from the patient to undertake work that is not necessary.  Equally, some patients experience ‘Under-treatment’.  This may occur when patients may have had the same dentist for 30 years who monitors or is unaware of chronic conditions (such as gum/periodontal disease) without treatment, which is then recognized by the  new dentist. This can also be called ‘supervised neglect’.

There has been a real change in advertising in the profession.  Ten to twelve years ago, dentists were actually not allowed to advertise.  Their name could be in small print the ‘Yellow Pages’, but were not allowed to have the extensive campaigns and slogans that exist now.  The profession has been de-regulated from that perspective.  The environment has also become more specialised, with greater referrals to specialists.   Patient expectations have increased in parallel to the increase in makeover shows on TV and there is a much greater emphasis on cosmetic dentistry.  Lastly, I think teeth have actually got a lot better over the period I’ve been practicing.  This is obviously linked heavily to socio-economic indicators – but fluoride in the water and better education is playing a part.

What was the best piece of advice you ever received?

The best piece of advice I ever had was from Andrew Brockis, who owned this practice before my boss, Jeremy.   He said to me that you need to find a work-life balance early on, and then you build flexibility into your professional career.  Dentistry can be a narrow-minded and stressful profession so I enjoy cycling, running, cooking and woodwork to balance that out.  I’m very lucky.  I love following and hearing 6 monthly snippets of my patients’ lives, which keeps things interesting. It’s brilliant.  I’m not just in this profession for the teeth!.

“How did you become a Cray Fisherman?

You could say it’s in the blood.  My dad started out in crayfishing as a ‘deckie’ (deckhand) and worked exceptionally hard until he could buy his own outfit.  He continued until he was 60 years old.  I’m the youngest of three brothers, and all of us cray fish.  I left school after year 11 and worked as a deckie on Dads’ boat for around 5 years until he decided I was ready to drive and operate my own outfit.

What does the work involve?

I’m the skipper so I have to set the cray pots, and then pull those pots out of the water (hopefully with them full of lobster). I make the decision on where and how deep to set them, depending on the weather, the time of the season and other variables.  My deckie is there to basically do all the heavy work, including lifting the pots, baiting the pots and throwing them off.

What are the main risks associated with what you do, and how do you work to manage them?

Cray fishing is an industry that constantly has highs and lows -sometimes on a daily basis.  At the moment, you need a minimum of 63 pots or units on your fishing license to be able to go fishing.  There are three different zones that you can fish in. We fish in what is called the ‘A zone’ meaning that from November through until March we fish off the coast of Geraldton, and then in March we head over to the Abrolhos Islands until the end of June.   There is always a risk that the governing body – the Department of Fisheries – puts restrictions on the season as a conservation method.  Sometimes this is done with only days notice.

Many people who don’t know the industry might be surprised at the outlay.  From a financial perspective, at this moment, each ‘A zone’ unit is around $20,000 to buy (remembering that you MUST own 63 as a minimum to fish.  You can then “top up” your license by leasing extra units of quota at a cost of around $1,500.00 per unit for the season.  We (along with the bank obviously!) personally own 112 pots/units and we leased last season around 200 extra pots/units.  This was a calculated risk as we had never fished under a quota system before (described below), but it paid off with a good average price over the season.

The Western Australian Rock Lobster industry comes under intense scrutiny because it is a wild fishery.  Any fishery needs to be managed, but you could say ours has been micro-managed over the last few years.  There has been massive restrictions in pot usage, which is currently set at 50%.  There are restrictions in days we can fish, and obviously now we operate under a quota system which restricts how much catch you can take from the ocean.  For us, the introduction of quota has taken quite a few of the risks out of the industry.  Previously, once the total allowable catch was reached, the season was closed immediately.  This made it a race to fish.  Now it is an individual quota based on the number of units/pots you have on your license.  This makes it easier to tailor the fishing to suit your cash flow needs, the weather, your lifestyle and everything else.

This year the Chinese market was closed to our industry.  China is currently our biggest importer of lobster, and coupling that with the rising dollar could have been disastrous for us.  My view is that there are some areas you can have control over, and others you can’t.  We can’t change the dollar, but we can work with the government to make sure that our industry remains a balanced one in which we are strictly conserving lobster stock for the future, whilst still maintaining a viable operation.

Finding people can be an issue for the industry as a whole.  We have never really had too many issues with finding good crew or deckies.  This is probably because we have a large license that gives them an opportunity to make good money whilst still having a good lifestyle (it also has something to do with the way Matt and his family invite you to be part of their life, but they would never say that – Mark).  In Geraldton, a lot of former cray deckies have gone to work offshore in the oil and gas industry.  The money is hugely attractive to them, but some would prefer the lifestyle that goes with fishing and are coming back into our industry.  I don’t necessarily only look for experienced deckies, which opens up the criteria.  I’m happy to train them as I like things done my way, and everyone fishes differently.

The boat is a major asset, and brings with it financial risks.  I chose a relatively small ‘jet boat’ that only requires one deckhand (some of the larger boats have up to 3 deckies).  It also means fuel expenditure is minimal, and operating costs in general are less.

One good risk management mechanism has always been my brothers.  As I said, I’ve also got both of my brothers fishing so we can bounce ideas off each other and I suppose you could say that Dad has been a mentor to all of us.  He still is to a degree, although he’s less happy with the constant changes to the industry.

What was the best bit of advice you ever received?

Not to put the cray pots back in the same spot, even if they have come up full.  It’s very tempting sometimes, but it’s bad for the fishing ground and it rarely pays off in the long term.”

The shacks on the Abrohlos Islands - Matt is either there or fishing, depending on the quota!

“What are the main risks associated with being the Principal of a Primary School?

The safety of students has to be my prime concern.  It’s not just about practical security onsite for them, but actually meeting ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ and ensuring that the children can feel safe and secure in the environment provided for them.  In this way, they will be able to learn more effectively.  If safety is the key with students, I think motivation is the key with teachers.  Failing to maintain staff motivation is a key risk, or it would be better to say failing to manage staff motivation.  The reason I opt for the latter description is because many teachers become so passionate about teaching that it consumes them.  This leaves them with an uneven work-life balance, and actually robs the children of the kind of vibrant teacher who has a wide range of life experiences and can bring those to fruition in the classroom.  I also accept it’s not always easy for teaching staff to remain enthusiastic in front of up to 30 young students on a day-to-day basis, and on occasions over my teaching career I’ve had staff issues to manage.  However, in my view, the buck stops with me.  As Principal it’s my role to ask myself daily – ‘Am I offering them enough support?  Am I listening to them?  Am I being fair?’. I aim to allow the staff to reach their goals, even if, long term, they want to leave and those goals exist outside of the education field.  However, I also try to focus them on education while I have them, challenging them and I to bring better practice teaching methods into the classroom on a continuing basis.

There is no doubt that one of the key risks I’m responsible for is financial management.  Partly, that is to balance a budget for financial security, but also to be able to release funds to act if an opportunity arises.  One example would be the ‘Reading Recovery’ programme.  This is a one to one reading programme that has achieved outstanding results in improving the skills of students with reading difficulties, through six months of one-on-one (teacher/student) learning.  It is resource intensive, but the results are outstanding.  When trying to act on opportunities, I invariably focus on outcomes, evidence-based options and making sure the parents are on board.  Parents are the first educators, and when their expectations can be harnessed to new ideas it’s possible to successfully implement new programmes.

Over the years, I’ve been called out to schools that have suffered vandalism, floods and ‘false alarms’, so lastly I’d like to mention the risks associated with the building and maintenance of the school.  People would be surprised at the range of contractors we often have on site to manage the facilities.

Given the various places you’ve taught John, including Kuwait and the Kimberley’s, how would you describe the cultural challenges you’ve faced?

Certainly I didn’t feel I faced many challenges in Albany.  It was an enjoyable place to work.  It had all the benefits of the town, but the space and room associated with the country.  In contrast, the cultural experience of Kuwait was very different.  I was teaching students who had English as their second language so, at the beginning of the year in particular, directions and instructions had to be concise.  There was also an emphasis on education for males rather than females, and more extensive practising of ‘streaming’ children depending on their ability.  This is not something I agreed with personally, but ironically it may well have also been my best teaching as I was given the ‘A’ stream.  They were obviously made up of very able and motivated children.

Teaching in the Kimberley’s was a totally different experience once again.  The context was different.  For many of the parents, education was not highly valued, and parents would not come and seek you out.  As such, it was crucially important to involve the indigenous community from the beginning so that they were aware of the need to equip students with the skills to create future opportunities and trust could be built.  I was very focussed on needing to provide an education that didn’t allow the class to become in any way disengaged and bored.  We often tried multiple programmes and techniques – differentiating classes in literacy and numeracy, ‘immersion’ in which we rewarded attendance at school by taking those students down to Perth, and leveraging young students love of sport and music by linking those with academic performance.  There were some very special times.  Working with the EON Foundation we started a fruit and vegetable programme, in which the students helped build and maintain a garden.  They then harvested and benefited from the products – which helped build self-esteem, communication and practical gardening skills amongst others.

Do you have a mentor?  If so, how have they helped you?

There is a very experienced Principal who I regularly catch up with.  He is my ‘critical friend’ and acts as my sounding board.  Being critical, honest and allowing me to bounce ideas off him prior to acting on them has been invaluable.

Has the profession changed? If so, have skills needed to be adapted?

Twenty years ago, children would sit for far longer without the need for an emphasis on stimulation.  With TVs, IPads, computers, DVDs et al making up the digital world, it is far more necessary for teachers to adapt and be able to utilise those tools, and also rotate from task to task on a shorter cycle to keep the students engaged.  There has also been an increasing emphasis on ‘accountability’.  While this is generally beneficial, there is a careful line to tread between the need for teacher accountability and the need to not stifle creative teaching – which is really our core business.  Teachers still need to be personally driven and passionate about children’s learning.  They need to have a thick skin, and ensure they have that ‘critical friend’ to discuss strategies, successes and failures.  They also need to be honest and up front with parents.  Sometimes, difficult relationships occur initially because dialogue was watered down initially, and parents were not fully informed.  Full and frank exchanges should be encouraged.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

I was studying my second year of a business degree, when a friend of mine, who was around 15 years older, saw me coaching junior sides in sport and suggested I would be a good teacher.  Within six months of that discussion, I’d enrolled in my Bachelor of Arts in Education.

Last words or recommendations…..

I can be a ‘risk taker’, but always in a calculated sense and not at the expense of a child’s education.  I do encourage staff to push their envelope and do a range of lessons, as it’s really important to encourage people to fail more often than they do.  Failing and then fine-tuning teaching through that is a legitimate practice to improve a teacher’s pedagogy.

Lastly, I’d like to suggest people read Lance Armstrong’s ‘It’s Not About the Bike: A Journey Back to Life’ to understand the mindset of a top athlete, and how Lance managed his personal and professional challenges.  Also, listen to Midnight Oil’s ’10 to 1’ for no other reason than it’s a classic album, and should be heard by as many people as possible on a regular basis.”

John Rose (Primary School Principal)

What are the main risks from your perspective?

From my perspective, the main risks associated with being a winemaker and owning a vineyard actually relate to the global market and general market trends, rather than solely to winemaking.  At the moment, most people realise that consumer spending is down, and people are looking to save money wherever they can.  This manifests itself in a reduction in ‘luxury’ spending by individuals, but also a wider lack of economic confidence.  Small winemakers seem to be squeezed between banks that are not keen to lend, individuals who are not keen to buy as much wine (from a retail perspective) and wholesale customers looking to squeeze them on margins.  For example, at this very moment, a number of the wholesale distributors are purchasing wine from New Zealand at a few dollars a bottle and selling it cheaply in the Australian market.  That is a situation that is neither sustainable nor beneficial for the Australian market and creates a significant risk for Australian producers going forward.

Regardless of whether you ‘believe in’ climate change, the climate is also a significant risk for a winemaker.  Last summer was a real shocker for my vineyard personally.  I’ve been keeping records for a significant period of time, and last year was around half of my annual, recorded rainfall.  The absence of rainfall, and its impact on the natural environment, led to an increase in birds and other animals eating the fruit.  Thankfully, the absence of rain is a rare occurrence in my particular location – but it’s a risk that all winemakers take seriously.

The third really significant area of risk for me to manage is the same as many small businesses.  Given that I’m a small producer, the emphasis is on me to stay fit and healthy in order to be able to carry out all the activities that need to be undertaken across the year.  Given that I’m wholly responsible for the success of the vineyard, I work 12 to 15 hours a day and 7 days a week.  I don’t have the financial strength to employ hordes of people to work here, or to have extensive insurance coverage for property, people and income, so a great deal comes down to me to manage.

So, how do you manage those key risks?

From a product perspective, I ensure my wine has product liability insurance because any loss in that particular arena would have a significant financial impact and loss.  Whilst the likelihood is very low, because I oversee the whole process personally, the consequence would just be quite catastrophic if something went wrong.  Quite specifically – from a product security perspective- at 5.30am in the summer mornings, I’m up and looking to ‘discourage’ the birds from eating fruit from the vines (I’ll leave you to imagine what ‘discourage’ might mean! – Mark).

From a manpower perspective, I also rely on a group of friends to help me with the harvesting, both picking and bottling.  I’ve also purchased some electric secateurs which means that my hands don’t have to exert quite the same pressure when pruning the vines that they did when I was younger.  It might sound like a specific item, but they’re worth their weight in gold, especially at the present price of gold!  More generally, I’ve tried actively to diversify.  I sell gravel from my property, and make sausages, in addition to making wine.

As I’ve said, I’m very conscious that running the show relies on my own good health.  One good way of reducing the stress associated with thinking of all these ‘risks’ is – at the end of a long day – to work on the vintage cars that I’m collecting.  Given that I have three boys – Blake, Tom and Jack – I’m keen to be able to hand them each a car (alongside their education) as future investments.  I’m presently building a house on the property itself, which will also be a future investment for the boys.  Once it has been built, the vineyard will be much more of an attractive asset for someone seeking a ‘tree change’ or looking to experiment with wine making on a beautiful property.

Has the industry changed a great deal?

Unfortunately, the industry has exploded.  There are many people working in the industry, but the passionate winemakers do not run the industry anymore.  It has become less collegiate, and is no longer controlled or heavily influenced by the little boutique winemakers.  From my perspective, the large ‘corporates’ really dictate the industry.  They determine the trends, and many potentially small producers have been put off from entering the industry because of the competition from goliath winemakers.  This is such a shame as boutique wineries were so significant at putting Australia on the winemaking map.

If you chose to do something else, what would it be?

I think I’d probably work in real estate, which is what I did previously.  However, I’ve grown used to being away from the hustle and bustle of the city, as well as stimulated by making wine.  When I wake up here, I can decide how to spend my day.  That level of flexibility is very attractive.  If the weather is nice, I can spend the day in the vineyard (pruning during this time of the year) or constructing my house.  If the weather is dismal, I can complete my accounts or undertake some bottling of this year’s vintage.  I suppose I’ve just grown more attracted to the absence of neighbours, and the presence of peace and quiet.”

Considering his risks.....and his basket press!

The brewery has been open for less than 8 months, but the world of risk could not be escaped.  I settled down by the fire to enjoy ‘Brewer and Brewing’ Issue 17 (Winter 2011) and had to read the impacts of natural disasters on Queensland, Christchurch and Japanese breweries (in particular XXXX, Matson’s and Kirin).  I was only half way through the article when the fire alarm went off, and tools had to be downed.  As such, I can only confirm that Matson’s continued to brew their beer as the earthquake continued, but I’m unable to confirm much else.  Unfortunately, as I was reading, the fire/chimney in the brewery got blocked and smoke billowed out to the point where I needed another  of stout to clear my eyes!….

Kind Regards,

Brassbear

“Valuations are essentially concerned with ascertaining the current market value of real property.  There are a number of key risks present in undertaking valuations which I’m going to try and express.  Essentially, it appears to me that there are those risks which emanate directly from a valuer’s own activities, and those directly attributable to the client (i.e. the banks/government) which are more difficult to manage.

For those who may not know, a valuation report comprises a significant number of items that require detailed research by the valuer.  Any significant error or omission can give rise to a liability.  As an example, part of the valuer’s role is to give advice on what the property is worth to ensure it has the relevant insurance cover.  If the figures are incorrect, and a loss is suffered, this can extend the liability of the valuer to banks and mortgage insurers.

Good risk management comes from ensuring you have a senior valuer as a mentor when you first start off, and that you learn to choose your clients well early on (…..and being able to stand firm when being criticized for asking so many questions is a good attribute to have!).  Working with the right clients is definitely imperative, as certain clients do want to understand the process and buy into the need for a robust quality assurance approach.  However, not every client appreciates this need or the service you undertake, and the reasons why you cannot cut corners and do need to cover off every step.  Strong reporting and management systems, including peer review, help reduce inconsistencies in reporting, but they also can increase risks associated with lack of quality as they breed laziness amongst valuers.  For me, it is important to get it right first time, as once the report is issued you can’t legitimately go back and change any details.  Risks can also be mitigated by having the right mixture of commercial and government work.  As an example, particularly in government work, as acquisitions and negotiated purchase is ‘outcome’ focused (i.e. sale of property from one party to another at mutually agreeable price) the likelihood of a claim of loss suffered based on negligence is much reduced.  The buyer, seller or claimant have a role in the process and contribute to the outcome, unlike finance work which has little to no involvement from the parties to a transfer or loan.

Turnaround times on all reports can be tight, and whilst it is possible to be flexible, the demands from some clients to turn around reports in twenty-four hours can sometimes seem impossible.  It breeds an environment in which reading, research, reviewing or other steps that should be undertaken are not given the respect they deserve.  However, clients want flexibility from the valuer and you’re always cognoscente that you’ll get more work as a valuer if you are more flexible.  From that perspective the challenge of securing work and managing risk is a constant battle.  There doesn’t seem a great deal more scope to reduce the risk of valuations any further.

Valuers are not necessarily thinking risk, they are thinking ‘what is this property worth?’.  The industry has changed significantly since I first started working in it.  In 1995/96, it was still quite a collegiate industry.  You could talk to your mates in the industry about a particular job, and it was non-competitive in terms of seeking to win jobs.  All valuers would quote reasonable fees, and were given reasonable time to prepare reports by clients.  As a younger valuer, I definitely made some mistakes, but a booming market is forgiving due to the capital growth.  When there is only growth and no capital loss, you don’t get sued!.  The industry has become homogenized as banks streamline their operations through one supplier with a view to ensuring a seamless, efficient product.  Unfortunately, the valuer often has a low contact relationship with financial and institutional clients.  The more marginalised the valuers become, the less clients recognize their skills and in turn the more marginalized the valuer becomes.   The banks do not want their fees adjusted, but do want black and white responses to their questions.  Unfortunately, sometimes it is more complex than that and a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ does not work, and if forced to respond in this way there is an increased exposure to liability. Valuers are often asked to respond on areas that are not their professional area of expertise and this increases their risks even further.  As an example, valuers may be requested to provide detail regarding the costs of buildings or structures that are more akin to quantity surveyors or engineering reports.  Financial/Institutional clients often request changes to valuation reporting.  Changes are generally requested that pertain to areas of known risk.  These additional items have the potential to increase the valuer’s risk, but not the reward.

My attitude to risk in my professional life hasn’t significantly affected my attitude to personal risk.  I’ve always enjoyed, but been careful and conservative, in my view of property.  As an example, I will always consider issues related to zoning prior to considering the yield and returns to be obtained from properties.  Clients often consider the latter rather than the former.  When I was younger, I used to surf bigger waves and ride fast motorbikes, but mortality has finally set in and those aspects have been replaced by smaller waves and a pushbike.  I’d prefer to look forward to the years ahead of me enjoying my family than take those types of risks again.

A new valuer entering the industry should definitely be aware of the long hours and the potential of being sued, but also the cost of not meeting all the client’s requirements.  It’s important to make sure that the supply chain is sustainable through the building of robust systems and reporting with low to no non-compliances with the banks.  If clients are chosen well, work carried out diligently and reasonable fees maintained a decent, professional living can certainly still be maintained.

Wade Kalajzich

Director & Owner, MidWest Valuations”