From Hamilton Girls’ High to Health and Safety Hero!
In the busy world of construction, where every project presents unique challenges, Health and Safety is a top priority. Enter former Hamilton Girls’ High student Hannah, dedicated Environmental Health and Safety Advisor for Foster Construction.
Hannah may be young, but she plays a crucial role in safeguarding both on-site workers and office staff for Fosters.
Her mission is clear: to ensure that every task is executed safely and that everyone makes it home at the end of the day
Find out more about Hannah’s career progression and how she ended up where she is today…
Hannah Fletcher
Environmental, Health and Safety Advisor
Hannah’s Top Tip
“This career requires a genuine interest in people and the ability to see the wider picture and more than just yourself.”
A bit more about hannah’s position
Hannah Fletcher
Environmental, Health and Safety Advisor
Former Hamilton Girls High School student
What do you do in your role?
My role is supporting our employees and sub-contractors across the company, whether they are hands on working with tools or working in the office. My job is to make sure all the work is being completed safely, and that everyone makes it home at the end of the day. I also will evaluate the current processes to see if we can be functioning more safely, as well as the environmental impact we have as a business.
How did you get into the role?
I kind of stumbled across this position. I started here part time as an administrator in the health and safety department, I showed an interest in the work I was doing, and picked it up quickly. Slowly I learnt more and had more on-site experiences, making my way up to the role I have now.
What previous qualifications do you have?
I studied a Bachelor of Business at Waikato University but did not have any construction or health and safety background coming into this role. I was able to apply my knowledge of the business world to this position though, particularly with people skills. This year I am studying my Level 4 NZ Certificate in Workplace Health and Safety, so will have this qualification as well.
What have you learnt on the job?
As I had no prior health and safety knowledge, I had to learn the rules and regulations as I went. In this role, you are constantly quizzed and asked questions regarding these regulations, so being able to quickly recall the answer is key. What I found harder was learning and understanding the construction terminology. This is something that came with time, talking to the onsite employees, and absorbing all the language used on site.
What subjects or skills are useful as background knowledge?
A lot of this job involves working with people, which isn’t something that can be taught. However, helpful knowledge to have would be how a business operates, and what benefits health and safety provides in this world of business. Alongside this, English is highly correlated to this role as you are writing up a bit and communicating with people.
What do you like most about working at Fosters?
Fosters really care about their staff. Our CEO knows everyone by name, and staff retention is high as people are well looked after. You can feel this dynamic on-site.
Fosters’ work, being both Waikato and Bay of Plenty focused, means we are having input back into our communities.
As a health and safety advisor, a big draw to Fosters is the reputation they hold in the industry about their practices.
There are also many growth opportunities at Fosters, and they do their best to support you and progress your career.
Any highlights from your career you want to celebrate?
A big highlight for me is when people remember my name when I show up on site, and they are welcoming and looking to have a conversation. This has come from building relationships, and finding that space where they see value in the work I do.
What does the future look like for you at work?
I have always been people-focused and would love to (one day) sidestep into a different role in the people and culture space – looking more so into how we can create a better environment that welcomes and supports our people, ensuring everyone is looked after.
Hannah’s inside advice:
What does your job look like day to day?
I make an effort to spend most of my time out on site, as this is where the hazards and risks are.
When on site, I am checking in with our employees: how they are feeling, are they being properly supported? So, a lot of pastoral care and monitoring that the work is being done safely.
Because I am walking around the site during the day, I get a lot of steps in!
There is also the administration side, where I am completing documentation and planning ahead, asking ‘how can we be best prepared?’ for various scenarios.
Who would be an ideal candidate for this role?
To me, the most important side of this role is the approach towards our people. A lot of the on-site staff have worked on the tools their whole life and they usually will have the mindset ‘nothing bad has happened so far so it won’t happen to me’. This is where it becomes important to approach the job with a more education-focused mindset, rather than a rule-enforcing mindset.
Someone with literacy skills is important, as you are writing a lot of professional emails, and communicating with supervisors, site managers, and general managers. So you need to be able to communicate with and understand both sides of this business, and know what they need from you.
What is your advice to someone coming into the role?
Never be afraid to ask questions, and do not assume you know everything because you never will. The people who are on the tools are the ones with the knowledge and expertise, so going to them to learn and find out more is helpful.
Health and safety is one of those things people don’t often dream about, but it is a great avenue to progress into at a later date, for example after having been on the tools and you are feeling it physically.
What challenges have you faced?
My biggest challenge is probably that I’m quite young to be working in Health and Safety.
The typical workforce in this industry isn’t always open to change, and can see Health & Safety as a hindrance. It can be a challenge to advise and convince them on how to do something safer or try to change behaviours.
So, I look at it out of a pastoral care way, of “hey, I care about you, and want to make sure you go home safely!”.
I’ve learned that it’s important to back myself and know my worth. If I came to work every day and cared about what other people thought about me, I wouldn’t be here today.
What is your advice for keeping balanced and managing stress?
My biggest tip is a good work life balance, so having things outside of work to help you decompress. For me this comes from friends, family, the gym and church, and connecting with these areas of my life on a regular basis allows me to fill up my cup.
About Fosters
Fosters have a 50+ year legacy as leaders in both business and commercial construction, committed to enhancing their local communities and building sustainably.
Working across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions, Fosters employs more than 200 people – from labourers, carpenters, and site managers, through to quantity surveyors, support staff and senior management. They cover property development, construction, engineering (steel fabrication), and ongoing building maintenance.
Building the construction industry with enthusiastic young people, driven to succeed, has been part of the Fosters’ way since the business was founded. Today, apprentices make up just over a tenth of the Fosters’ workforce.
For more info: fosters.co.nz
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