From the CEO – May Newsletter

Feature image: CEO Francisco Irazusta, and members of the team who toured the Yiribana Gallery at the Gallery of NSW as part of Reconciliation Week

This week is National Reconciliation Week. For us at InfraBuild, Reconciliation Week is a time for us to pause, listen and learn from Australia’s First Nations people.

I recently visited the Art Gallery of NSW with my Executive team and a group of around 30 employees, and toured the Yiribana Gallery; which displays works from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art collection. The tour was led by Indigenous educator, Chelsea Sen, a Kamilaroi and Wiradjuri woman, who explained the stories and significance behind the art.

As a business with over 150 sites and branches across Australia, I feel strongly that InfraBuild has a responsibility to advance reconciliation. We do this by looking at our own business activities and taking active steps forward.

You may have noticed we have recently updated our Branch Locator as well, to reflect the First Nations lands where we have a presence. It is just one of the practical ways we are acknowledging the continuing connection Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have to their lands.

Our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan lays a clear pathway forward for the business to advance reconciliation and we are reminded by this year’s theme, Now More Than Ever, of the important role we play in reconciling Australia.

In other news, a lot of attention has been, and rightly so, focusing on the path to Net Zero, and at InfraBuild we have our own ambitions to be Carbon Neutral by 2030.

As Australia’s only Electric Arc Furnace-based long steel manufacturer, our EAFs have been taking recycled scrap steel and making new steel for more than 30 years. It is part of the way we are taking a sustainable approach to steel making.

Earlier this month, I was honoured to be invited to participate at the Australian British Energy Transition & Investment Summit to talk about the steps we are taking to achieve our low emission, net zero ambitions, such as sourcing renewable energy to power our EAFs.

Product innovation is another area where we are focused on delivering more sustainable solutions. We have developed and are currently manufacturing a new range of reinforcing steel bar called SENSE 600®.

SENSE 600® delivers improved construction sustainability credentials with up to 39% lower embodied carbon than our 500N reinforcing steel, it is made from 100% recycled scrap steel and uses 16.7% less raw materials.

This month I have been out talking with industry partners and experts, at a series of events we have hosted, to speak about our new SENSE 600® product. It was pleasing to speak to others in the building and construction industry who are excited we are in market with a more sustainable steel product that has lower embodied carbon.

With SENSE 600® we are excited to be developing some of the greenest steel in Australia.

Finally, safety is an important part of our everyday at InfraBuild and with World Safety Day recently occurring, we used the opportunity to recognise the efforts of our teams focusing on safety through our Annual InfraBuild Safety Award.

We recently recognised our Laverton Steel Mill for their improved safety performance this past year and I was able to join the teams to present them with the InfraBuild Safety Award.

Across the past five years there has been significant improvements in our culture of safety. A quick glance at our total recordable injury frequency rate – or TRIFR – across this period indicates a more than 60 per cent reduction, a significant achievement from all our people.

We all have a part to play in safety, which is why at InfraBuild, I am proud we are unwavering in our continued focus on improving safety and our safety culture.

All the best and stay safe, 

Francisco Irazusta
CEO, InfraBuild