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Inside Metalcorp Geelong’s partnership with Health Stack to prevent injuries, support an ageing workforce, and turn ‘niggles’ into early intervention and prevention-not claims.
James Fletcher, founder of Health Stack recently chatted with Andrew Curtis, Branch Manager, Metalcorp Steel based in Geelong, Victoria. The goal was to learn about the specific health and wellness challenges facing the workforce at Metalcorp Steel and to understand how partnering with Health Stack has been beneficial for the business and its team.
Q&A: Keeping Steel Workers Strong with Health Stack
Interview with Andrew Curtis, Branch Manager – Metalcorp Steel Geelong
At Health Stack, we see first-hand how tough environments ask a lot of the human body. Metalcorp Steel’s Geelong branch is a perfect example: heavy product, complex movements, and an experienced workforce that’s spent decades on the tools.
We sat down with Andrew Curtis, Branch Manager and 35-year steel veteran, to talk about their business and how partnering with Health Stack is helping his team stay healthy, productive, and confident at work.
Q: Andrew, tell us a bit about your background and your role at Metal Corp.
Andrew Curtis:
I’ve been in steel for about 35 years and with Metalcorp Geelong for around 20. Before this I was Operations Manager at our Westall distribution centre in Melbourne, and earlier I worked in Queensland for another steel business. I’m now the Branch Manager at Geelong.
Q: What does the Geelong operation look like?
Andrew Curtis:
We move roughly 1,200 tonnes of steel a month. We buy from mills in Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales, bring it into Geelong, process it and send it out to customers-often the next day.
Our customers include fabricators, modular builders, manufacturers, farmers, and civil and engineering businesses. We’re based in the old Ford factory with a 3,500m² warehouse plus a large hardstand yard.
We’ve got 20 staff: 10 in warehouse operations and 9 in the office. The average age is about 49, with quite a few people who’ve been here 20–30 years.
Q: What makes the work physically demanding?
Andrew Curtis:
Everything we handle is heavy. There are no pillows here.
We rely on forklifts, overhead cranes and side loaders, but there’s still a manual component in almost every task-lifting, positioning, guiding product, repetitive movements.
We run two band saws around 10 hours a day, cutting stock lengths into customer-specific parts. We also process reinforcing mesh and supply a wide range of civil and structural products. It’s a diverse operation with a lot of moving parts and a lot of physical activity.
Q: What were the key health and injury risks you were seeing?
Andrew Curtis:
The big one is an ageing workforce and the wear and tear that comes with that. Even when tasks are well-designed, doing them day in, day out takes a toll.
We also knew smaller “niggles” weren’t always being reported early. People push through, and if no one knows about it, a minor issue can become a lost-time injury. We wanted to get in front of that.
Q: Why did you decide to partner with Health Stack (Safe & Healthy)?
Andrew Curtis:
What appealed to me was how proactive the model is. It’s not just, “Call us when someone’s injured.” It’s about catching things early whether they come from work, from home or just from getting older.
We now have Nathan, the physio, on site once a month, and he’s fully booked every time. Staff trust him, it’s confidential, and there’s no cost to them.
On top of that, our team can use the online portal. There are physio follow-ups plus programs on sleep, mindfulness and breathing, quit smoking, and other health modules. We’ve got QR codes in lunchrooms and crib rooms so people can self-access whenever they want.
Q: What difference has that made to early intervention and injury management?
Andrew Curtis:
It’s become normal for people to speak up early. If they’ve got a niggle, they book in rather than waiting.
If something happens on site, we can call Health Stack straight away and get an over-the-phone triage. We find out quickly if it’s minor and can be managed with exercises, or if we need further medical follow-up. That takes a lot of uncertainty out of it.
We also get clear return-to-work and rehab plans. The detail sits between the physio and the worker, but we know exactly what duties and supports are needed. That structure gives me real peace of mind.
Q: Health Stack has also done manual handling assessments on site. What did that involve?
Andrew Curtis:
The team has been out a couple of times and spent a few hours in the warehouse with one of our operators-watching, asking questions and mapping where the biggest manual handling risks might sit.
When you’ve worked in the same place for 20 years, you can get a bit complacent. If nothing serious has happened, you just keep doing things the same way. Having you here puts fresh eyes on the task and you are looking purely at movement, load and repetition.
You’ll then come back with recommendations—could we change the technique, the workflow, or bring in equipment to reduce the risk? It’s very practical and it’s industry-aware, because you’ve seen a lot of different workplaces.
Q: How has the partnership influenced culture and how your people feel about safety?
Andrew Curtis:
The biggest shift is trust. People can see the business is willing to invest in their health, not just tick a box.
Health Stack really feel like an extension of our team now. The conversations are open, staff are comfortable reaching out, and we’re dealing with issues in real time instead of months later.
It’s also strengthened the message we push here—that everyone is responsible for each other. In a heavy industry like ours, you need that hyper-vigilance. If someone’s off their game, the person next to them needs to tap them on the shoulder and bring them back.
Q: With an older workforce, do you see changes in how people look after themselves?
Andrew Curtis:
For the people who are engaging regularly, yes. They’re learning how to warm up properly, how to stretch, how to work around existing issues, and they’re more aware of how their body feels.
Some of the older workers are naturally a bit slower to try something new, but the consistency of the program-seeing Nathan every month, having the portal there—builds awareness over time.
Q: Any final thoughts on the value of working with Health Stack?
Andrew Curtis:
For me, it’s about stopping little things becoming big things.
In our environment, a small strain can quickly turn into a lost-time injury if no one knows about it. With Health Stack, we’ve got early reporting, expert support and a clear plan every time.
Heading into busy periods (like the lead up to Christmas and New Year, the goal is simple: everyone goes home safe and uninjured. Having Health Stack alongside us plays a big part in making that happen.
