Health, Safety and Emergency response in the FIFO and the mining sector is always in the public eye, but find out why Erin and her HR background founded Camp Connect, a communication network between desk and non-desk employees.

How did your startup/business journey begin?

Career Professional in Human resources, Health and Safety and emergency response in mining and resources Industries for the last 10 years, working in various FIFO operations for across the Iron Ore, Gold and Nickle sectors.

A number of issues I noticed across the industry about two years ago relating to mainly solving the issue of communication break down between work and non-desk employees, disengagement of workers and emergency management. In addition, while there is a lot of discussion around the mental health & isolation topic, and resources available, one of the key elements we are missing is human connection and engagement and there for preventing the issue which could be aided in creating a better site experience.

While the mining industry has the highest rates of mental illness and employee turnover, the key element that can be linked is the fact this industry has an entirely different way of living, as opposed to a job in a town, which is why building friendships while on site is so important.

From day one we seem to be failing as an industry on the engagement front (which is evident in the high turnover rate of new to FIFO workers) as expect everyone to remember a days’ worth of induction information (Which can usually only be found on the intranet) they then need to try and find their room in a complex design of upto 800 identical rooms, on paper map in the dark, and navigate their way around an unfamiliar area in the dark with a new set of rules again. They are usually in an unfamiliar place with no out of work friends, and any after work activities are not effectively communicated or not available.

Another issue I found over my career is we are at a stage in the tech cycle, where there are so many one feature apps out there, that try to cover a broad range of industries, they are often not suited to a remote mining environment. It can also be difficult to get the workforce engaged in implementing “one function software”, especially when there is little personal benefit for them.

In combination of these issues, Camp Connect was created to provide one simple, easy to use solution, tailored to the mining & resources industry that people would love to use, in solving the issue of communication, employee engagement, emergency management and mental health & isolation.

What are you working on at the moment?

After very lengthy development journey and some big road blocks along the way (2 years’ worth) and conducting small scale remote testing, we are currently focusing on locking in a foundation partner to trial our software in a large scale on site environment,

What are you most looking forward to as part of CORE Sprint?

Having the opportunity to meet other innovators, ad refine what we have been working on so far in business growth strategy, and the value the program and mentors have been adding to our growth.

Can you share with us one of your favourite success stories from your business journey so far?

Finally having our product completed (it really has been a resilience building journey)

And knowing it works as intended. (I almost cried when then map followed me correctly and showed the exact location I activated the emergency alert from)

How have you adapted post COVID-19?

Covid added one extra road block for us, however has really proven the importance of communication with non-desk workers in an environment where the requirements on site seemed to be changing on a weekly basis. We have adapted to more we calls however.

What is one interesting thing about you? (A hobby, something you love, something curious that no one would expect!) I love Sewing, I had a previous start up, where I designed a backless support bra, and simple bra insert kit which requires no sewing skill. I put this on hold to work on camp connect, as solving the issues in the industry is something I’m more passionate about

Are you interested in learning more about Erin and Camp Connect? We have our Virtual Pitch Night on November 10th. All welcome, register here.