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A chat with John Furner, Pegasus’ head of mining services

From our beginnings in the Hunter Valley mining industry in Australia, the Pegasus team has extensive knowledge of the sector’s unique challenges.

Having spent his career in the industry, Pegasus head of mining services John Furner knows how to look at compliance challenges from both sides.

We catch up with Furner to discuss how Pegasus software has become an invaluable workforce management tool for its clients.

Can you please introduce yourself?

My name is John Furner and I’m the head of mining services at Pegasus. I’ve been in the mining industry for around 40 years, starting out as a training mine surveyor back in the early 1980s, working in underground and open cut environments.

I worked my way through the ranks as an open cut examiner (OCE), and then a mine manager. My last role in mining before I came to Pegasus was general manager at Muswellbrook Coal.

Why is Pegasus the best choice for safe workers on mine sites?

In my view, Pegasus is the best choice for safe mine sites because we actually verify the data that goes into the (workforce management) system. A lot of other systems don’t have a verification step.

Plus, we have an integrated system that connects in through all the aspects of company compliance, worker compliance, their learning management system (LMS), and then access to gate.

Why do mining clients choose Pegasus?

I think our mining clients choose us because we’ve had the experience in the industry, and we actually know what we’re talking about. We can actually provide them with solutions to their problems, rather than just selling them an off-the-shelf product.

We’ve been at this now in the mining industry since about 1987. We have a long history with a lot of those existing clients, and we get a lot of referrals from people who have moved client to client.

Why do we get referrals from workers who move between clients?

They have experience with our software and know the benefits it provides; but most importantly they have a relationship with their Pegasus account managers. So beyond our software, they’re actually referring our people and the expertise we can provide.

What are the biggest challenges Pegasus helps their clients overcome?

I think the biggest challenge we help our mining clients with is actually understanding their exposure to both companies and workers. I don’t think a lot of them understand the breadth of the risk, the size of the risk they actually have.

It’s pretty evident when we start talking to clients that they don’t really know how many contractors they have, what type of work they’re doing on site.

In your opinion, what are some of the hidden risks facing mining companies?

The biggest one is the lack of information on company compliance in regards to insurances and licences, particularly with smaller companies and sub-contractors. Many mining companies have very limited to no visibility of the Work Health and Safety compliance of these companies.

Without a system in place to pre-qualify contracting workers, they have limited visibility of worker competency prior to them arriving on site. When the contractor does come to site, the time pressure to get the contractor ready for work can lead to a less than adequate review of worker skills and competencies, which increases risk.

How does Pegasus support mining companies that implement its workforce management system?

We support them by partnering with them in the project. It is a project, and it requires both sides to put effort into getting the result they’re after.

We also have a series of integration tools that we can smoothen the process through, and allow that data to come across into the Pegasus platform.

To follow that up, we’ve got the assistance from the Pegasus support team on an ongoing basis to both the client and the contractor working for them.

What makes Pegasus unique in what it can provide for the mining industry?

Pegasus is unique in the fact that we have a fully integrated end-to-end solution for both company and worker compliance, while we still have all uploaded documents physically verified by our data verification team. This provides an extra layer of due diligence and reduces risk for our clients.

How does our dedicated customer support team help?

They take away the administrative pain for our clients. If you can imagine onboarding 200 contractors and having to upload each of their documents — such as licences, insurances, qualifications, training — and manually have each of them fill out forms on paper.

That’s the kind of work the onsite administrators are doing. Our team takes that away, it’s completely remote. They look after both the communication with the client, and the communication with the contractor. This is something our clients no longer have to do.

Pegasus is a complete compliance solution that will save mining companies time and money so you can focus on your operations for a measurable return on investment.

Speak to Pegasus today about its mining industry solution by calling 1300 441 433 or emailing info@pegasus.net.au

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