As we wrap up National Safe Work Month, Darryl Bullen, HSEQ Advisor at DDR/Duratec, reflects on how living with Type 1 diabetes and competing in bodybuilding has shaped his approach to accountability, leadership and safety, and why lasting change depends on everyone playing their part.
Darryl Bullen has done more than lived with Type 1 diabetes for more than 20 years; he has thrived. While managing a chronic health condition, competitive body building has become a significant part of his life. Although managing diabetes, competing on stage, and working in safety may seem worlds apart, Darryl sees strong links between them.
“Throughout my personal and professional journey, I’ve come to appreciate how commitment, discipline and resilience can shape positive outcomes,” Darryl says.
Managing diabetes and bodybuilding both require consistency, preparation and a long-term mindset, and Darryl is enthusiastic when carrying those lessons into the workplace. They influence how he approaches planning, risk management, maintaining focus and continually improving.
Sharing Darryl’s experiences, in and out of work, offers a fitting perspective for the final week of National Safe Work Month (NSWM): For all – Action across all workplaces. Darryl says this year’s theme resonates with him because safety is not owned by one person, team or department; it’s a team sport.
From individual accountability to shared responsibility
During his five years with Duratec and DDR Australia, Darryl has spent the past 18 months delivering the Leadership Fundamentals Program (LFP), helping our leaders strengthen their communication, support their people and create safe, empowered and high-performing teams.
The discipline and lessons gained from managing his health and competing in bodybuilding have shaped his approach in delivering the LFP.
While safety begins with each person taking responsibility for their actions, Darryl believes that the strongest outcomes come when people collaborate and work together. This philosophy is why he regularly champions TEAM: Together Everybody Achieves More.
The safest workplaces aren’t necessarily the ones with the most procedures. They’re the ones where the workers are comfortable having conversations about risk.
For Darryl, these conversations need to include the people closest to the work, from frontline workers and supervisors to subcontractors and clients. Different experiences and perspectives help teams identify risks, share lessons and take greater ownership of safety.
Turning words into action
Creating a positive safety culture means giving people more than just procedures to follow; they need to understand what good leadership and safe behaviour look like in practice.
Through Darryl’s LFP, participants explore Duratec’s values of Curiosity, Courage, Collaboration and Care, and these inspire individual accountability and practical action planning.
Explaining the ‘Why’ behind these expectations is equally important.
“People are more likely to engage, contribute and take ownership when they understand the purpose and reasoning behind what we (Duratec Group) are trying to achieve,” explains Darryl, “This approach places leadership within everyone’s reach. Everybody has the potential to lead.”
In the workplace, on-site, or wherever the Duratec Group operates, these values become behaviours: asking whether there is a better or safer way to complete a task, speaking up when something isn’t right, listening to different perspectives and looking out for the people around you.
On the sites where Darryl works, a simple traffic-light approach demonstrates what taking action looks like in practice. When a ‘red light’ is identified, people are encouraged to stop work, assess the risk and determine what needs to change before proceeding safely. Just as importantly, they need to feel supported and empowered to make that call.
It brings together the principles Darryl emphasises throughout his training: understanding what’s expected, taking personal responsibility and having the confidence to act.
From conversation to lasting change
Building a strong safety culture is ultimately about what happens after the conversation: giving people the knowledge and confidence to recognise risk, speak up and act. This is at the heart of what Darryl shares throughout his work.
What drives me most is helping people to stay safe at work and supporting our teams to build the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to work safely every day.
Safer workplaces are created when people understand the role they play, look out for each other and turn what they know into what they do.
“At the end of the day, safety is a team sport. The more we collaborate, share knowledge and support each other, the better the outcomes will be for everyone.”
Together everybody achieves more.
