By connecting contractor compliance, competencies, inductions and access control, Orica created a more consistent approach to workforce readiness at one of Australia's most highly regulated manufacturing facilities.
At Orica's Kooragang Island facility, safety starts before workers arrive onsite. By connecting contractor compliance, workforce competencies, training and access control, Orica has created a scalable approach to contractor assurance that helps ensure workers are qualified, compliant, and ready to work before entering one of Australia's most highly regulated manufacturing environments.
Building confidence before work begins
Orica’s ability to maintain safe operations depend on having confidence in every contractor who enters the site.
As a Major Hazard Facility handling security sensitive products, Kooragang Island operates under strict regulatory, security and safety requirements. Contractors must have the appropriate qualifications, training, licences, and approvals before they can begin work. With large contractor workforces supporting maintenance activities, projects, and plant turnarounds, maintaining that level of assurance is critical.
Historically, many of these processes relied on manual administration and oversight. Contractor registrations, insurance reviews, competency verification, and site inductions required significant effort from site teams, particularly during periods of high contractor activity. As workforce requirements became more complex, Orica recognised an opportunity to strengthen consistency, improve visibility, and create a more scalable approach to contractor management.
Connecting contractor assurance from start to finish
To support this goal, Orica expanded its use of Avetta Connect and Workforce Management to create a connected contractor management process spanning supplier qualification, workforce onboarding, online learning, competency management, and site access.
Contractors can complete required inductions and training before arriving onsite, while qualifications, licences, and role specific competencies are managed through a central system that provides greater visibility for operational teams.
A key component of the solution is the integration between Avetta and Orica's Honeywell access control system. Rather than treating workforce readiness as an administrative process, contractor requirements are directly linked to physical site access. Workers who haven’t completed the required training, competencies, or contractor requirements are unable to access the facility until those obligations have been met.
The system also supports day-to-day operations. Supervisors and permit issuers can verify worker qualifications and competencies before work begins, helping ensure contractors are appropriately authorised for the tasks they’re performing. For a site where safety, security and emergency preparedness are closely connected, maintaining visibility of who’s onsite and their readiness status has become an important operational control.
Supporting safer, more efficient operations
The results have delivered measurable value across both safety and operational performance.
More than 6,600 inductions have been completed digitally, reducing reliance on classroom-based training and enabling workers to complete onboarding requirements before arriving onsite. Contractor registration processes that previously required extensive administration have been streamlined, while workforce competency management can now be maintained without the level of manual resourcing once required.
The impact has been particularly significant during outage activities. Prior to digitising the induction process, Kooragang Island estimated it was spending approximately AU$100,000 annually on outage inductions. Moving to a digital model reduced this burden while maintaining the workforce assurance required to support safe operations.
During the rollout of Avetta Connect, the site also achieved more than 80% contractor compliance within a matter of months, providing greater visibility into contractor readiness across the facility.
Safety as the default
For Orica, the greatest benefit is confidence.
Operational leaders, supervisors, and permit issuers have greater assurance that workers arriving onsite have completed the training, competencies and approvals required before entering the facility. Contractors have clearer expectations, site teams spend less time managing paperwork, and supervisors have better visibility into workforce readiness before work begins.
By connecting contractor compliance, competencies and access control, Orica has established a more consistent approach to contractor assurance. The result is a system that helps prioritise safety before work begins, supports efficient operations, and reinforces a simple principle: if workers are not ready to work, they do not gain access to the site.
