Treading gently: Why mining executive Bobbie Foot is firmly grounded in community
Sep 6, 2021
What impact can I have, and how can I make the world a better place? It’s these questions which have driven Bobbie Foot; from growing up in a large rural Queensland farming family and qualifying as an occupational therapist to becoming head of Health, Safety and Environment at BMA Coal and being named one of the 2020 Global Top 100 Most Inspirational Women in Mining.
Bobbie now leads a team of over 200 professionals in the world’s largest mining companies and also applies her many transferable skills - from her deep understanding of risk management and social value - to her board roles as Co-chair and Director of the Minerals Industry Safety and Health Centre Advisory Board, Director of the University of Qld Sustainable Minerals Institute Advisory Board, and as an industry representative on the Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee.
In this podcast Bobbie tells Claire how growing up in a remote community, coupled with her early years working in OT, taught her about the importance of collaboration and informed her drive to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all people and the environment, set high industry standards and develop a ‘culture of care’.
As such, she is passionate about engaging and empowering people to collaboratively solve challenges and deliver win-win outcomes for the workforce, community and environment.
As a long-serving Women on Boards member, Bobbie is also a graduate of WOB’s Next Generation of Female Leaders program and has launched her own website, bobbiefoot.com, in a bid to drive collaboration between organisations and people in the HSE space. While initially hesitant about the ‘self-branding’ exercise she tells Claire, we should all be putting ourselves out there more. In fact it was this visibility which led to Bobbie being called on to speak at the United Nations in Geneva on mine closure and its impacts on women and girls.
LinkedIn: Bobbie Foot | Claire Braund (host)
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