Plus Positives

Empowering others is a core value of Plus Systems, which we aim to do both onsite and in office, to create a more communicative environment that rewards quality and new ideas.

Plus Positives is just one of the ways we give back and support our industry and community at large, by supporting causes that have great significance to us, predominately focusing on mental health and well-being.

Since launching we have raised $1300 for our favourite causes.

  • It’s nearly been a week since R U OK day, so is mental health still top of mind?

    Previously, we wrote our generic piece about awareness, reconnecting, and raising money with a photo of our lunch to add to the sea of others, but it felt like a cop out.

    We say that change is at the core of who we are and that we care about mental health but that takes more than platitudes, it takes vulnerability, and not just asking if others are ok but admitting we aren’t.

    Organisations like R U OK do fantastic work, but it takes more than an hour or day of talking, then returning to our desks and back to site… where we see or experience the pushiness, the stand over tactics, the bullying.

    Not naming names, but we have had someone come into our office before, standing over our strong leadership team yelling that they sign off on work that was not ok, and it was scary to watch, let alone experience.

    This treatment is typically worse for those lower down on the food chain, the small businesses, the subcontractors, and the apprentices.

    There is this cycle of treating the young, the new, and the up-and-coming in the industry the same way the older gen was treated, and if it doesn’t stop, neither will the crisis we are facing.

    It’s sickening that 190 people in construction take their own lives each year, that’s higher than any other group in Australia… but it’s not just those we lose it’s those stuck living with the angst and the dissatisfaction.

    Listening is fantastic, giving others a chance to open up to you and directing them to the services they need is crucial, but so is breaking down barriers and making opening up feel ok.

    It’s creating a real dialogue and admitting our own problems, to those that need to hear it.

    So often those that we least expect, the authoritative, the bubbly, the ones that ‘have it together’ are struggling.

    It takes admitting that we struggle, that we can all feel messed up, especially if we have gotten help – it takes admitting that some of us are on mental health plans, have coping strategies, and need medication from time to time - so we can be those, bright, kind, knowledgeable, ‘having it together’ people we want to be.

  • TradeMutt Day 2021

    Our team has taken an afternoon off for our annual TradeMutt day, (with our very own trade mutt) to come together as a team to raise nearly $300, reflect, and get a few rounds of trivia and darts in.

    Unfortunately, many of us have heard the stories or felt the bullying, standover tactics, and outdated mindsets used by some in our industry, but we can push back to say that isolating behaviour is not ok... but asking for help is.

    Organisations like TradeMutt, are doing great work in the mental health sector and we are proud to support them.

    As a team, we endeavour to make a positive impact, to transform the industry not just by raising passive fire standards, but by the way we communicate and connect, and who we choose to work with.

    Together we can all make a conscious effort to check in with our mates on and off-site to make our industry a stronger, healthier one.

  • We hit the ground (admittedly walking not running) to support the Cancer Council, the Children’s Hospital Foundation and the RSPCA.

    It was a day of blue skies and lots of laughs to support great causes – one to add to our rotation of #pluspositives events.

    Who’s up for the 10km challenge next year?

  • We are brightening up our office and job sites with our new Friday shirts from TradeMutt to start the conversation about the mental health in the construction industry.

    Thank you to the TradeMutt team for taking time to tell us about the great work they do and giving us ways to can reach out to others and raise awareness.

  • Our team has taken an afternoon off for our annual TradeMutt day to raise $300 whilst getting in a few rounds of trivia, sharing stories, and a lot of food. (It was a toss-up for the best dish between the cheesecake and arancini balls)

    Organisations like TradeMutt & TIACS are doing great work in the mental health sector and we are proud to support them.

    As a team, we endeavour to make a positive impact, to transform the industry not just by raising passive fire standards, but by the way we communicate and connect.

  • Last month we threw away our razors at Plus Passive Fire to support Movember, a great cause making a big difference in Mens physical and mental health. Those of us who couldn’t grow a mo, have been moving for Movember and reaching our 10,000 steps a day goal. Together we raised $370 and wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who supported us and the cause.