Book a free visit from Safety Ambassador Shane Webcke
Looking for a legendary Queenslander to speak to your workers about safety? Apply to have Safety Ambassador Shane Webcke visit your workplace.
A football legend and sports presenter, Shane has a strong connection and commitment to safety as his father was killed at work.
Now heading into his seventh year as Queensland’s Safety Ambassador, Shane says enough time has passed that he can speak about the tragedy and the impact losing his dad 26 years ago had on him and his family.
“Dad was crushed by an industrial wool press at his place of work. I found out in the very early morning hours after a State of Origin. I answered the phone and I heard mum's voice, I knew what she was going to say to me – dad had been killed,” Shane said.
“My motivation for accepting the role as a Queensland Safety Ambassador is linked to the fact that I lost my father in a preventable workplace accident. If I can change the attitude of one person and perhaps prevent something like this from happening to another family – well, then it’s been worthwhile.”
While the rate of workplace fatalities is falling generally, the latest statistics show there were 41 male work fatalities in one year, at a rate of 3.1 per 100,000 workers, compared with zero female fatalities. Of these, more than half were over 55 years old.
Shane, and our safety advocates, can be booked for free (conditions apply) to visit Queensland workplaces to highlight the impacts that a work-related death, serious injury or illness can have on workers and their families.
In 2019, Shane and our other safety advocates gave 330 talks to more than 17,000 people. They travelled to large and small workplaces all over the state—town and country, rural and regional—making visits north to Smithfield, west to Isisford and south to Coolangatta.