As part of its community-based employment options for supported employees, OC Connections Enterprises (OCCE) offers a mobile car wash service to government and private businesses across greater metropolitan Melbourne. Some of the current car wash customers include the City of Kingston, the Department of Health and Human Services, the City of Casey, and Tradies Heaven.
Major Road Projects Victoria is delivering the Mordialloc Freeway, a 9-kilometre freeway that will connect the Mornington Peninsula Freeway at Springvale Road in Aspendale Gardens to the Dingley Bypass in Dingley Village.
The McConnell Dowell Decmil Joint Venture (MCDDJV) is the construction partner building the Mordialloc Freeway and in November 2020 they engaged the services of OCCE for the mammoth task of cleaning their project site vehicles.
OCCE’s car wash operations provided a social and environmental component to the project, an important consideration for all Victorian Government construction projects. Not only does our car wash provide employment opportunities for people with disabilities, the team use environmentally friendly and bio-degradable products and an innovative cleaning system that utilises less than half a litre of water to wash an average size car.
Richard Craze, Social Procurement and Inclusion Manager from MCDDJV said,
From a social and environmental perspective, the partnership works well. Being able to have the program onsite enables more control, less lost time and allows us to visualise what the team brings to the project.
By the end of 2020, there were more than 70 MCDDJV vehicles needing some real love and attention on site, after COVID restrictions ceased regular car cleaning.
The OCCE Car Wash Team, comprised of Supervisor Rishi, Team Leader Philip, and team members Aaron, Adrian, Belinda, Chris, Clinton, Elias, Gary, Mark, Michael, Peter and Trent, who stepped up to the challenge.
Troy Walters, Plant Coordinator for MCDDJV, remembers that when the team arrived on site for the first time, they were excited and ready to start cleaning.
They completed the Project Induction process and became well accustomed to the daily ‘Prestart’ and COVID Safe sign-in procedure.
As they soon became known around the site, the Mordialloc Car Washing Crew got stuck into what they do best, and that is making cars sparkle!
As word spread and the vehicles started rolling in, the crew washed and cleaned vehicles with great enthusiasm and were always keen for more vehicles. They have certainly kept me on my toes!
The Car Wash Team continues to impress, coming up with new ways to clean more efficiently by introducing new equipment like heavier brushes to deal with the dried mud on the car wheels
When the OCC Marketing Team visited the team on-site, they told us that they are passionate about doing a good job and that it is important to concentrate on windows, door handles and common touch surfaces.
The team said they like having the option to either meet at OCCE and travel to the MCDDJV Head Office site together or travel there independently. After cleaning five to six cars in a shift, they head back to OCCE to unpack.
Team members Clinton and Belinda said that they particularly like working in the fresh air and being part of a hard-working team.
Troy looks forward to a continuing partnership with the OCCE team, saying,
I have enjoyed being part of the crew. They are an awesome group of people, always smiling, always great to talk to and always willing to do their best. We still have plenty of vehicles to clean, so keep your spray bottles on hand and your smiles wide and continue to make our vehicles sparkle. Great work guys!
