She was awarded the Future Safety Leader Award at the recent Site Safe Awards in Auckland, which recognised an individual who had been in the industry less than five years but who had shown promise and initiative, contributed significantly and demonstrated the ability to inspire positive health and safety change in construction.
She joined Cook Brothers Construction as health, safety, sustainability and quality co-ordinator for Queenstown and Wanaka nearly two years ago.
Previously, she was involved in the health sector, most recently at the Queenstown Medical Centre for 12 years and working at a physiotherapy clinic prior to that.
Deciding it was time for a change, she applied for the job at Cook Brothers, feeling she had nothing to lose.
She was enjoying the change. It was a very different environment with most of the workers being men, whereas previously most of her co-workers were women.
When she first went on site, she acknowledged how little she knew about the commercial construction industry and told staff she was going to learn from them.
She had endeavoured to build those connections and relationships and, while it was not an easy role, the team had been “amazing”, she said.
In a statement, Cook Brothers said her contribution to health and safety went beyond her formal responsibilities — they represented a deep-rooting passion for making a lasting difference.
She had pioneered meaningful improvements within her role, including a wellness app for the team which provided a wide range of resources.
“Fiona’s solutions-oriented mindset, coupled with her compassionate approach, reinforces the message that safety and wellbeing are integral to the construction culture.
Her empathy, approachability and unwavering belief in the team’s potential had led to tangible improvements in how health and safety was perceived and practised.
“When the team knows that Fiona will always be there to support them — whether that’s checking in after an injury, co-ordinating follow-ups, or simply showing up on site with chocolate cake to thank them for their hard work — it strengthens the safety culture at its core.”
She said a lot of the role was around education and she was now starting to see engagement from trade partners as well.
Acknowledging the different nationalities on site, she had health and safety posters translated into those languages to help get the message across.
“I do go on to site and feel a bit like a mum. I am a mum, I’ve got three adult kids. I think if you were my child, I would want you to be taking care of yourself.”
Quipping that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, she said taking cakes on site was something small that she could do.
