Q: Hi Ryan, thanks for your time. Can you tell us a bit about Orica?
Orica is the world’s largest provider of commercial explosives and innovative blasting systems to the mining, quarrying, oil and gas and construction markets, a leading supplier of sodium cyanide for gold extraction, and a specialist provider of ground support services in mining and tunneling. The Kurri Kurri Technical Centre is staffed by over 250 employees, and is the main R&D and manufacturing center for explosives and precursors for Orica’s Australian operations. Many of the products Orica supplies to the mining sector are developed, manufactured and distributed by the Technical Centre.
Q: When did you first come across Form1?
I’ve been at the Technical Centre for seven years and with Orica for five. Form1 have been on site for as long as I’ve been here and from conversations with my predecessor I believe they have been servicing the site for over 10 years.
Q: Can you recall the first job Form1 completed for you?
I can. It was their monthly preventative maintenance. I’d come out of an oil and gas role, so I was new to fire systems. The technicians who came out knew exactly what they were doing and when I had questions they were very happy to answer them and explain things to me. They’ve always been transparent with the works completed, issues identified and rectification works conducted.
Q: Tell us about the type of work Form1 carries out for you?
Predominantly the work Form1 conducts are monthly, 6-month and 12-month preventative maintenance. The site has also engaged Form1 for capital work projects including the upgrade of detectors from conventional to addressable detection, and the installation of fire detection, and suppression systems at newly constructed plants and facilities onsite. Form1 have also been pivotal in setting up our EWIS (Early Warning Intercom System) which assists in evacuating personnel away from the emergency location.
“When they realise a problem they bring it to our attention straight away.” – Ryan Bremmell, Site Supervisor, Kurri Kurri Technical Centre.
Q: Why do you enjoy working with Form1?
Form1 provides our site with an all-hours service for one of our critical systems. Whenever we’ve had issues on site, even out of normal office hours, we can always get hold of someone. They’ll talk us through the problem or send someone out. I have and will continue to recommend Form1 to others. Their quick response has been great. One particular incident related to a system failure which resulted in repeated false emergency alarms. We spoke to Form1 over the phone and tried to work through a couple of solutions, and whilst we were able to isolate the problem and alarms from reoccurring we were unable to fix it. As a result, they sent a technician out at 10pm to conduct a temporary fix and determine a longer-term solution.
Form1 can effectively identify problems or improvements and rectify them on the spot, or provide an interim solution until a long-term fix can be implemented. Form1 work autonomously, from scheduling of preventative maintenance at our site through to the technician performing the works (even when supervised by Orica personnel) and are always transparent about the work they have conducted and recommendations on improvements. I have worked in the past where this has not been the case and contractors have not spoken up about concerns that should have been raised. With Form1 I don’t have this issue.
Q: Why has Form1 been a good fit for your business and your industry?
Form1 is a good fit for the business because they share the same values as Orica. Their customer focus and solution management, in a specialty field, while understanding the site and our systems are what makes Form1 our fire protection company of choice.
Q: What matters most to you when dealing with different professionals and providers?
Work expertise, quality and ethics of which Form1 have demonstrated through their management and technicians.
