Work Well speakers series

Jade is the first Indigenous Socceroos’ captain and is a two time Olympian and two-time A-League Champion, standing as one of Australia’s most decorated footballers. Having transitioned from his football career, Jade ventured into manual trade work representing a national commercial cleaning group and now with a national construction company in their Indigenous and training division, guiding apprentices and new employees and helping them comply with workplace safety regulations through toolbox talks and site inductions. He's also a strong advocate for female manual workers, who he’s assisted with harassment claims.

He was greatly impacted witnessing the death of a bystander when scaffolding collapsed on him at a sportsground in Brisbane several years ago, and he ties this into his safety story, weaving messaging and real-life scenarios in an impactful way.

Dr Sara Pazell BAppSci(OT), MBA, PhD, CPE is the managing director and principal work design strategist for a human factors and ergonomics consultancy practice, ViVA Health at Work. She is affiliated with five Australian universities, including an Industry Fellow position within the Sustainable Minerals Institute at The University of Queensland. Sara’s research areas focus on the business architecture of good work design across many diverse industries. Sara is a Certified Professional Ergonomist, an advisory panellist for Australia’s only certified WellnessWise^TM Practitioner training program, and part of the international advisory committee for the WELL Movement concept, International Well Building Institute^TM. Sara is a series co-editor for the Workplace Insights books by Taylor & Francis and a book co-editor of two books in the series: Ergonomic Insights and the Healthcare Insights book (manuscript recently submitted, in publication now).

A manual task risk management program is a central part of good work design. These programs can reduce risks of musculoskeletal and psychosocial disorders to protect workers. These approaches, if communicated well, can meet other sustainable business objectives that include worker health, wellbeing, inclusivity, productivity, and efficiency.

Sara will use narrative storytelling to explain the work realities of three fictional but relatable characters from different industry segments. Their experiences will inform the recommendations to manage their risks of musculoskeletal disorders that impact on other hazard exposures, business objectives, and values. You will learn the 3M’s: the Meaning of the worker experiences, how to interpret the findings so that work can be Manageable, and an action plan to design better Manual tasks.

Marion Burgess has been working in the area of workplace noise for many decades. This has included measurements of worker noise exposure and research into noise control measures. She has been involved with many education programs ranging from tool box talks to workers, training for those undertaking noise assessments through to professional occupation hygienists.

In this presentation Marion will discuss the effects of high noise exposure and why it is essential to manage and protect workers from excessive noise. As noise induced hearing loss is a preventable injury, she will also outline the advances in noise control measures that can be implemented in workplaces.

Jahin Tanvir is the CEO of the Australian School of Entrepreneurship, award-winning keynote and three-time TEDx speaker. Jahin was named as a 40 under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australians in 2022, at the age of 21-years-old.

Jahin will delve into how employers can better engage young people and ensure their wellbeing and health is at the forefront of discussions. Particularly with mental health being a substantial issue for young people, this high energy and interactive presentation will explore 5 ways in which workplaces can adapt and manage for young employees and create a safe and sustainable working culture.

Kevin dazzled on field earning State of Origin glory and becoming a revered halfback. Transitioning to coaching, he led the Maroons to numerous victories, and now looking for the same success with the Broncos. In his family life Kevin is a third-generation carpenter with his son Billy making a four-generation legacy of Queensland carpenters, including Kevin’s brother Brett of Brett Walters Construction which Kevin contributes to, to this day.

Riana Crehan has a deep connection to workplace health and safety as she was personally impacted when her father suffered an injury. Paul Crehan (Riana's late father) was cutting down trees out of powerlines in a cherry picker, the bucket he was in did not have a non-slip mat and he fell out of it from a great height. His knee and body were never the same and the family suffered as he fought for compensation as he couldn’t work again. Riana speaks about the incident and the toll it took on her family.

Riana gives new meanings to the saying 'jack of all trades'. The difference with Riana is she is a real Master of some too. A decade plus long career in the industry, recently since impressing so many finishing SAS Australia in 2022, Riana has been working with the coverage team of Supercars. Riana adds colour with her wonderful interviews and personality shining through in all she does.

Aside from her commitments to Supercars, Riana consistently works as an MC, Freelance Host/Interviewer, Ambassador and Influencer on exciting campaigns.

Riana has kept herself in incredible shape by pushing her limits both physically and mentally. In 2021 she completed her first IronMan and achieved multiple goals pushing aside injury challenges along the way. You will find her on the bike, in the pool or running along the water somewhere in her spare time. In 2023 her whole world changed with the welcoming of her baby son, Dash. Riana has found a new lease on life as a Mum and is loving the challenge of working professionally and being the best she can for her family.

Andrea Fox

Andrea's career has spanned the public sector in Queensland, as well as working for a non-government organisation and teaching in the university sector. Andrea is genuinely committed to the principles of collaborative policy design, knowing that enduring and effective policy solutions are only devised when crafted with those effected by them. She has policy making experience working with a diverse range of industries including work health and safety, industrial relations, vocational training, transport, energy, natural resources and child protection reform.

Since 2017, Andrea has focused on work health and safety. She is the Queensland member of the Strategic Issues Group of Safe Work Australia, where she contributes to the national development of work health and safety policy. Andrea has also chaired a number of tripartite steering groups for collaborative policy development and regulation setting across construction, agriculture and psychosocial hazards.

The year of 2024 in work health and safety is going to be The Year of Health and Safety Representatives (HSRs). Learn more about this powerful role in the workplace and how to get the best out of it for both workers and employers. This presentation will also cover the legislative changes that are coming in Queensland and how the Regulator works with Health and Safety Representatives, as well as dispelling some common misconceptions about HSRs.

Johanna Sutherland

Johanna's career has focused on the effective use of regulatory interventions to uplift safety outcomes for workers in Queensland.

Johanna is passionate about collaborating effectively to identify and develop forward thinking regulatory programs that balance standard setting and targeted compliance initiatives. She has broad experience driving enhancements in a diverse range of regulatory interventions including the provision of advisory, compliance and specialist technical services and initiatives that are relevant to the regulation and support of health and safety representatives (HSRs). Johanna is involved with a number of national working groups that focus on policy reform in relation to HSRs, licensing and psychosocial hazards.

A/Prof Carlo Caponecchia is an academic at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He has a background in psychology and works in human factors and safety. He has particular interest and expertise in psychosocial risks and safe systems of work. Carlo is a member of the Standards Australia committee on occupational health and safety management and was part of the ISO TC283 working group responsible for the development of ISO45003. He is the current President of the International Association on Workplace Bullying and Harassment.

In this talk we’ll explore elements of work design, how it fits within work health and safety practice, and why it should be the primary strategy for organisations to use when improving mental health at work. The talk will outline examples of how work can be re-designed, as well as reporting on a tool that was developed to increase confidence and skills in work re-design for managing psychosocial risks.

Dr Gregory Zelic kicked off his professional journey as an Academic: teaching, mentoring and exploring the edges of behavioural neurosciences for 10+ years. He joined the public sector few years ago, determined to commit his skills and efforts towards improving lives.

Today Gregory is a proud public servant and team leader at the Centre for WHS, where he is directly responsible for the Research and Development program, and the Data Science program.

Diving into the focuses of the Centre for Work Health and Safety, Dr Zelic spoke to our view for addressing the future of work, including:

• staying ahead of the game through rigorous evidence collection of current and emerging trends
• reassessing and preparing for the future of regulation by understanding how we can keep up with rapidly changing worlds of work
• embracing opportunities into the future, including new ways of working and technologies that will allow us to progress in ways that we have never been able to.

Having retired from his AFL sporting career in 2019, Luke is now the Queensland Manager of labour hire company OCC Services. He has an in-depth understanding of various trade disciplines, including carpentry, scaffolding, heavy vehicle operation, and crane operations and an intimate understanding of the potential risks and hazards, allowing him to advocate for targeted safety measures. Luke is dedicated to safeguarding workers' well-being and ensuring a safety-first approach in all workplace scenario. He also speaks about his personal experience with workplace safety, after witnessing a friend in a severe accident, and the aftermath of this.