STAY HUNGRY, STAY HUMBLE: SAFETYCULTURE’S LUKE ANEAR ON FUTURE-PROOFING HIS TECH COMPANY

Although SafetyCulture’s technology has put safety into the hands of workers worldwide, earning it an enviable pool of clients and investors in the process, founder Luke Anear knows he can’t afford to be complacent. For him, the ongoing success of his high-growth tech company will require everyone involved, including himself, to “personally grow to be three time more effective in our roles, every year”.   

During his seven-year career as a private investigator, between 1997 and 2004, Anear led surveillance investigations into, amongst other things, workers compensation claims. Exposed to the tragic consequences of workplace incidents over this period, he came to realise his job “relied on people getting injured” and that “every worker deserves to go home at the end of the day”.

Two such tragedies – the suicide of a 36-year-old man following an injury on the job and the death of a young worker installing roof installation – were the “catalyst” for SafetyCulture. Frustrated by the OHS industry’s ‘reactive’ model’ and the over-emphasis on compliance, he envisioned a mobile software solution that would empower workers to maintain safety standards without relying on management.

SafetyCulture was born in Anear’s garage in Mount Low, Queensland in 2004. As a non-technical founder, Anear engaged university student Alan Stephensen, as his first employee. At the time, Stephensen was working at Cleveland Juvenile Detention Centre in Townsville and had built a navigation app for people to find their way around James Cook University. Although Stephensen had only built the one app, Anear admired his eagerness so brought him along for the journey (he’s still with the company today). Read more

James Harkness - Dynamic Business - 22 Sep 2017