Meet the Team: Caite

Meet Caite!

It’s been a while since we’ve introduced our online audience to some of the staff who work here at Workplace Emergency Management. So, without further ado, meet Caite!

Caite has been working with the Workplace Emergency Management team for around 18 months or so. We asked Caite a few questions about her working life here at WEM. Here’s what she had to say…

What is your role within the company? What kind of work do you do?

I am now Manager of Developers, and I look after the production of Evacuation Diagrams, from start to finish. In my day-to-day, I am responsible for ensuring all enquiries relating to emergency plans and evacuation diagrams are documented and filed correctly so that they are easily accessible when they need to be actioned. I assign work to the development team for all diagrams at all stages of the work. I also ensure our data is filled out correctly to ensure other colleagues are aware of the work required and what stage all the work is at within reports. Each day looks a little different, but this is generally my scope of work.

What is one thing that kept you motivated/busy during lockdown?

While in lockdown, I was not only working from home- but I was also home-schooling! The motivation to keep going was to ensure my email inbox was empty and the coffee cup was always full. But seriously; Knowing and speaking to some of our clients dealing with closed school sites, closed nursing homes and business working from home, I knew everyone had their own version of added extra stress. If all I could do was ensure that I was working with them to ensure the process was as smooth as possible and hopefully be one less thing on their list to get done and ensure the safety of their workplaces and all in them.

What events led you to be in this industry, doing what you do?

My main motivator for working within the kind of position I do is working around a family routine. Originally as a single mother for over 7 years, every day would have to revolve around school hours, travel time, housework and still being able to find time to sleep. I believe this is where my preference for procedures and correct reporting have come to put me in the role I am in, merging my customer service history with a little OCD for details.

I also come from parents in the emergency services- having been raised on stories of car accidents, house fires, building lockdowns and more, I have an understanding of how different situations can unfold in lots of different ways and what can be the better responses.

What do you like the most about your role?

As odd as it is to think- the repetitiveness, and the guarantee that work will advance in a certain fashion and has a flowchart of how that progresses. There is something very mathematical about my role and that there are definitive yes/no and regulatory answers to things that keep things moving in a forward motion to complete tasks.

What’s the #1 safety advice you could give someone?

Stay CALM and keep your head. It’s too easy to forget important information and instructions when you panic.