The modern workplace is in transition and it’s not just due to ongoing advances in technology. A complete paradigm shift is underway in the way companies are dealing with issues such as safety and regulatory compliance, risk management, diversity, equity and inclusion, human resource management and internal communications.
It’s a long overdue evolution designed to mitigate risks in the workplace and offer greater protections for both employers and employees.
That’s good news to the people at WhistleBlower Security, a Canadian company providing 24/7/365 ethics reporting and case management services to more than five dozen mining companies around the world. Through it’s proprietary “IntegrityCounts” platform, WhistleBlower Security is helping companies in the mining sector and other industries raise the bar when it comes to improving workplace environments.
“Ethics reporting is a really important service for the mining community because what it allows for and what it facilitates is better oversight, transparency and accountability,” said company president and founder, Shannon Walker. “A whistleblower hotline protects not only the overall organization, but also employees.”
According to Walker, WhistleBlower Security provides mining management and staff with a platform for anonymous and confidential communications between employees and their management teams that could be located anywhere in the world.
The “IntegrityCounts” platform gives all stakeholders including vendor partners, or those who work at mining sites, the ability to report any issues they may see related to safety, discrimination, harassment, or other potentially damaging behaviours.
“An ethics reporting hotline is a great risk mitigator in the sense that it allows organizations to detect and deter fraud, or other financial malfeasance such as statement fraud, manipulation of the procurement process, or illegal kickbacks or bribery which often happens in other foreign territories where rules may be interpreted differently,” said Walker.
When Walker launched WhistleBlower Security 15 years ago, mining companies were the first adopters of its services, a reflection of the industry’s ground-breaking and proactive efforts to improve internal reporting and develop more accountable workplaces. While many other industries are slowly adapting to the new realities in the workplace by contracting these services, Walker says mining companies continue to lead the way.
“We’ve seen a 34 per cent increase since 2019 in the number of reports coming from our mining clients,” said Walker, who’s Vancouver-based company is B-Corp™ Certified and women owned and managed. “This speaks volumes to them wanting to ensure not only employees are safe, but also sites are safe, the community around them is safe and the environment is being treated properly.”
WhistleBlower Security now operates hotlines in 80 countries, servicing businesses employing over 3 million employees world-wide.
Besides working with multiple mining clients, Whistleblower services are currently being integrated into healthcare, pharmaceutical, aviation, and government organizations. While Walker acknowledges the name “whistleblower” sometimes comes with negative connotations, she said empowering people to speak up in the workplace has only positive impact.
“As we move toward a more ethical way of doing business people will realize that whistleblowers should be celebrated as opposed to being ostracized and demoted.”
For more information visit Whistleblower Security online here.
