2021 Safe Work and Return to Work Awards Ceremony
Chris Bombolas
Good morning everyone and welcome to the 2021 Safe Work and Return to Work Award Ceremony. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I'd like to extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples watching today. My name's Chris Bombolas, I'm from the Office of Industrial Relations and I'm your host for today. It gives me great pleasure to MC this event, a highlight from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. What an unpredictable two years it has been since the last award ceremony in 2019. Of course we are disappointed that we couldn't hold today's event in person but we are very excited to be joined online by our finalists today to celebrate excellence, leadership, dedication and innovation in work safety, health and wellbeing and return to work. Overall, we received 82 entries into this year's awards and I would like to take a minute to acknowledge the huge amount of time and effort that goes into achieving excellence in your field. Well done to all. Entries were of a very high calibre and today we are lucky to be celebrating 34 individuals and businesses whose initiatives and stories deserve to be recognised and rewarded. Today, we'll hear from Queensland's minister for Education, the Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing, the Honourable Grace Grace. Footy legend and Queensland Safety Ambassador, Shane Webcke will give us a bit of an insight why his role as safety ambassador is so important to him and he'll also be helping us with the awards part of the ceremony. And of course, most importantly, we will announce the finalists and winners of the Safe Work and Return to Work Awards for 2021. Time to get the formalities underway. I'd like to welcome Queensland's Minister for Education, the Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing, the Honourable, Grace Grace.
Minister Grace Grace
Thanks Chris. Good morning to you all. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I would also like to acknowledge Tony James and his team at the Office of Industrial Relations, Queensland Safety Ambassador, Shane Webcke, members of Work Health and Safety and Electrical Safety Boards, those watching online, especially our finalists all around Queensland. It is an honour to be part of the Safe Work and Return to Work Awards 2021. In a sign of the times, this year we have a new special category which recognises outstanding responses to COVID-19 in the areas of work, health and safety, electrical safety and return to work. I am pleased to say 13 of the 82 overall entries were for this new category. Well done. There are also 27 entries in the best solution to an identified work health and safety issue category. Altogether, there are 34 finalists from across 12 award categories and I have no doubt this would have been a tough choice for the judges, job well done. It's clear from the nominations that once again, business and individual finalists have displayed an unrivalled commitment to keeping Queensland as healthy and safe at work and providing great rehabilitation support to get them back to work as soon as possible. Without giving too much away, I note the fantastic work done by the three finalists in the new COVID response category. These three finalists, Endeavour Foundation, RACQ and Australian Country Choice were innovative, responsive and ready to adapt to the evolving pandemic challenges. Our four finalists in the Injured worker achievement award also deserve special mention. Congratulations to Ellie Dunn, Steve Coleman, Geoff Spannagle and Martin O'Hara who have made remarkable recoveries after workplace accidents. Today's finalists are glowing examples of workers who have overcome adversity and many different types of struggles to get back to work. It also shows us all the importance of industry pitching in to make sure things are better for everyone in the state. Well done everyone for your outstanding efforts which have brought us here today. I congratulate you all and encourage you to continue the good fight to improve safety and return to work in all Queensland workplaces. Thank you. Have a great day, and back to you, Chris.
Chris Bombolas
Thanks to the Minister for sharing those kind words. My co-host today is rugby league legend and Queensland Safety Ambassador Shane Webcke, Webby is a former Brisbane Bronco. He played State of Origin for Queensland 21 times and played as a prop for the Australian Kangaroos and for Shane, it's a very personal mission to improve work health and safety and he is here to share a little bit about that and have a chat with us. Shane, welcome to the awards. I know you're excited. I know there's a number of our finalists are waiting anxiously for us to get into the program but before we do, let's talk about your safety journey. We are here for the Safe Work Awards and the Return to Work Awards. Why are events like these really important?
Shane Webcke
Well, thank you, Bomber, and hello everyone who's joining us today. Why these things are so important is because, by the very nature of an awards ceremony we're celebrating excellence and innovation and in the field of safety which has been with us forever quite obviously, it's the innovations and the advancements that people in individual businesses make, they're the ones that eventually are shared with everybody and so in a way that when the tide rises all the boats go up together, when these businesses are so good at what they do, it's on display for everybody else to see and for, if you like, for the good ideas to be stolen and in that way, safety is improved overall. The people who take the time, the businesses who we're rewarding and celebrating today, everyone, not just the winners, the finalists, their work and their innovation is why safety can be improved. So this is vital that we continue this.
Chris Bombolas
And that's part of our charter, is to share their journey and to spread it to a wider audience. Events like these and then your visits out to the general public, to businesses, to workplaces, how important are they?
Shane Webcke
So for me personally, obviously my role, as Safety Ambassador for Queensland if you like, for the department, involves just that, going to businesses, of all different varieties, you know, I have a rural background but I go to all types of workplaces and basically what I do, I tell the story of losing my father in a workplace accident. Now that doesn't necessarily teach you anything about safety but what I can convey to people is the effect of those decisions that from time to time people who do dangerous jobs want to make and it's a split second decision that took my dad from me and from my family. The ramifications of that however, live on and on and on and that's what I try to get across when I talk to people at their cold face, if you like, that when we think about the things that we do in dangerous workplaces, it is handy to do so in the context of if it goes wrong, if we pull a wrong lever, if you like, in terms of the work you're doing, the ramifications of that live on and on and on. My father was killed 27 years ago and there's not a day that goes past that we don't think about him, there's not a day that goes past that we don't miss him and it was avoidable and that's the most important thing. That's what I tell people and that's what I try and get across.
Chris Bombolas
You've been Queensland Safety Ambassador for seven years now. Can you see cut-through when you visit places, you know, particularly say, you know, you're at a construction site or, you know, some hardy farmers, can you see the cut-through that you are making a difference?
Shane Webcke
Look, safety is a very difficult subject really, because in many ways it's hard for people who've been brought up in a certain way to think about safety in a certain way. So for me, I talk to literally thousands of people in this role and it's impossible for me to know when I sit and talk to a group of people, well, has that sunk in? Has that made a difference? But you know what? Every so often an individual will come up to me and they'll say, "Listen, you've made me think differently about it today from your story." And I'll tell you why that's so important to me, because that means that at some point they might be facing one of those decisions that can go either way and because of something I said, they'll make the right decision and that potentially means that a family will not have to go through what we went through and for me, Bomber, when people ask me about, you know, how I keep talking about my father dying, why that means so much is because the meaningless way that my father died, we've always struggled to get anything from that. When someone comes and says to me, "you know what? You made a difference today," means he didn't die for nothing and that means an enormous amount to me and my family.
Chris Bombolas
I've been to some of those talks that you've delivered and to see them, you can hear a drop of the pin and you see them well up and these are hardened workers that, you know, you're delivering a message that, "Hey, this could happen to you or one of your colleagues."
Shane Webcke
Absolutely and more than that, for the people that it really affects because in the context of an individual, oftentimes we can't, you know, in the heat of the moment when you're at work, sometimes it's very difficult to be thinking beyond that and really you shouldn't be but in terms of when you are tempted to cut a corner or do something that doesn't quite mesh with the safest way to do it, think about what that means if you don't get home on that day and that'll make you make the right decision, I promise you.
Chris Bombolas
So you're a true believer in Work Safe, Home Safe?
Shane Wbecke
Absolutely.
Chris Bombolas
Yeah. Thanks Shane, sit back, relax, your job now will be to help us with the awards.
Shane Webcke
Well, actually I have to open the envelopes and I've been practicing and Bomber I think I'm ready.
Chris Bombolas
So you don't know who the winners are, do you?
Shane Webcke
I do but-
Chris Bombolas
Ah, come on. And for you guys who are joining us, thanks very much. It's time that you've been waiting for, it is time to announce the winners of the Safe Work and Return to Work Awards for 2021. Shane is going to be my assistant. He's been practicing, as he said, he's got the opening of the envelope. He likes to go to those sorts of functions too to get them correct. Don't shuffle them, please.
Shane Webcke
We're trying to keep them in order.
Chris Bombolas
All right, okay. Let's get to category one which is the Best solution to an identified work health and safety issue. Our finalists in this category are Brisbane Motorway Services for designing and manufacturing a high visibility, warm weather load bearing vest and the vis check app that can check compliance of high vis out in the field. K-Valve Systems, for developing a testing and inspection device used to test sewer and storm water systems used in residential, commercial and industrial environments that reduces the risk of injury to the wrists, hands and fingers and reduces the amount of time workers spend in awkward postures. Lock Jaw Ladder Grip for developing a lightweight and durable safety device that secures the ladder to guttering and prevents the ladder from slipping, reducing the risks when working at heights. Logan Water and Downer for their isolation lock that makes it clear to workers when water infrastructure is or is not isolated during repairs, maintenance and asset replacements. PRM Engineering Services for developing Sentinel Vision AI, a human only pedestrian detection system where artificial intelligence is used to identify when a person has entered a hazardous area. Shane, I wish I had a drum roll. It's over to you to announce the winner of category one, Best solution to an identified work health and safety.
Shane Webcke
And congratulations to all our finalists, some wonderful innovations there. There can only be one winner unfortunately and that winner will be PRM Engineering Services.
Chris Bombolas
Excellent, Shane, you've got the first one right. The first of 12 I hope. Let's hear a few words from the team at PRM Engineering.
PRM Engineering Services
Thanks guys. It's an honour to receive this award. On behalf of the team at PRM Engineering Services, we wanna thank WorkSafe Queensland for recognising our product, Sentinel Vision AI, as a solution that addresses the issue of people and plan separation around mobile machinery in the construction industries. This is still one of the highest risks in these industries and this recognition means a lot to us as we add to the success of the product as we're rolling out across many client fleets and our aim is to reduce the risk of work related injuries around mobile machinery through engineer controls that create behaviour change. This tool really means a lot to us as we continue to develop the product. Thank you.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the crew at PRM Engineering Services. That was a shot of the award that they receive which we will deliver to them at a later date and Webby, that AI, that intelligence, you could have used that on the footie field, Wayne Bennett could have used that about way back in your day.
Shane Webcke
Well these front rowers could have used it, put it that way.
Chris Bombolas
Congratulations to our first winner of the day and to all of the finalists in category one. I strongly encourage you to jump onto our website at worksafe.qld.gov.au and have a look at the profiles of each finalists. There are some extraordinary solutions being developed out there in response to work health and safety issues. So well done to everyone. Now on to category two, Best individual contribution to work health and safety. Our finalists in this category are Jo Kitney, Kitney OHS, a passionate health and safety professional, who manages several work health and safety businesses and is committed to achieving better health and safety outcomes for her clients through systematic injury prevention. Michelle Oberg, Downer Group. Michelle Oberg is Downer utility safety innovation lead. Michelle has proactively and collaboratively shifted the business approach to safety from purely traditional methods to one that includes progressive safety theories, ideas and applied practices. Over to you Webby to announce the winner of category two, Best individual contribution to work health and safety.
Shane Webcke
Thank you Bomber, and our winner is Michelle Oberg from Downer.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to Michelle, let's catch up with her at this point.
Michelle Oberg, Downer Group
Fantastic, I'm so thankful for this award, recognition to Jo, she does amazing work, WHSQ for putting these awards on and also to the fantastic people that I work with, John Welsh and all the operational GM's, I'm stoked. That's all I can say.
Chris Bombolas
Oberg from the Downer Group. Congratulations to Michelle and also to Jo, again, fine examples of how individual commitment can have a real impact, Webby, on improving work health and safety for everyone.
Shane Webcke
Absolutely.
Chris Bombolas
Now we're going to take a look at our first finalist in category seven which is Best demonstrated leadership in work health and safety. This short film is about Australian Country Choices response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how a strong commitment from business leaders help transform their health and safety culture.
Australian Country Choice
Australian Country Choice is a beef and cattle business. We have rural properties spanning four and a half million acres. We have multiple feed lots and a processing facility and in Cannon Hill and we're really a service provider for our clients selling beef globally. When COVID firstly hit, we saw the writing on the wall before it even really got to Australia. You know, it was important for us to get the crisis team together, our senior leadership team and really make sure that everyone was aware and up to speed of at what our thoughts were and where we were going and then the second part was to get third party expertise in that could really help us understand how pandemics work, how viruses work to allow us to make the most appropriate decisions. Some of the key things that we did early on before anyone was doing it, we really acted quickly and they were, you know, masks came on immediately, everyone on site, we had quarantine areas where anyone of concern was isolated and checked by a doctor. We had segregation of offices. We set up multiple offices and sent people home. We had lunch room segregated, brought in more lunchrooms and had put the Perspex dividers up for physical barriers. All our annual leave forms are adjusted to allow us to understand where everyone had been and going so we could understand how they integrated back in. We were early adopters of temperature guns at the gate house, declaration forms for people where they'd travelled to and again, remembering these are all things that came out before they were sort of commonplace these days. Yeah, cultural diversity for us is an ongoing, not challenge, just part of life for us, we have 61 nationalities just here at our facility. So that was always a consideration about how we got messages out, in what formats and forums, community leaders are key parts of that, the engagement with them. I think what drove the success was not one in particular thing. I think it was constant energy and focus and reflection. You know, I think it was a whole myriad of actions collectively that has helped us get us to where we are today. Safe Food Queensland and Queensland Health have been very complimentary and have taken a lot of what we've done on board and I believe have shared that with others. The most important thing for us though has been our employees and making sure that they feel safe and that their families are safe and the businesses is safe and, you know, we've been working very hard at making that the right outcome and, you know, working as if we're a family in a family business.
Chris Bombolas
Fantastic film and a great insight into the initiatives and work that they've been doing at Australian Country Choice. We will be announcing the winner of the Health and safety leadership category a little later on in the program. For now, our next category is category three, Best solution to an electrical safety issue. We only have one finalist in this category, The National Electrical and Communications Association for their risk assessment method for arc flash hazards and creating an easy way for electricians to select PPE and controls. Now Webby, I don't think we need to build up the suspense too long. So you can do the honours of announcing the winner of category three, Best solution to an identified electrical safety issue and even an old front rower like you can't get this-
Shane Webcke
I'm a stickler for instruction. I've been told to open the envelopes and I'm going to. It'll come as no surprise however though, our winner is The National Electrical Communications Association.
Chris Bombolas
Thanks Webby and let's cross over to a NECA and get a few words from one of their representatives.
National Electrical and Communications Association
Thank you, that's wonderful news. First of all, a very big thank you to Safe Work and Return to Work Awards. From all the team here at NECA, we made a concerted effort this year to influence positive change throughout the electrical industry. This is a fantastic acknowledgement for all the hard work our team has committed. Electrical safety is specialized work and we implore everyone here and listening that if you work with electricians, reach out to us for a chat or a catch up to see if there's anything we can do to help you out. Thank you Minister Grace, thank you Shane Webcke, thank you to all the judges and thank you to all the team at NECA and finally, thank you Queensland.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the team at NECA, they're doing some fantastic work and very excited to win that award. Arc flash is a priority area for the Electrical Safety Office and if you haven't already, I encourage you to go to our website and view Mark's story. Now, this is a powerful film about an experienced electrician who was badly burned by an arc flash. All right, let's move on to category four, Most significant improvement to work health and safety performance. Finalists in this category are Darwalla Group, a poultry producer who showed strong commitment to a positive safety culture where staff were part of the solution. Djarragun College for the complete 180 on the approach to work health and safety driven by the college leadership. Ensham Resources who have made improvements to the health and safety of their workers but also take a unique approach to overcome the challenge of managing return to work in a remote location with employees located all over the country. Mendi Constructions, who committed to changing a trend of increasing injury numbers by placing their focus on employee engagement. Shane, over to you to announce the winner, category four, the most significant improvement to work health and safety performance.
Shane Webcke
Thank you Bomber and our winner is Mendi Constructions.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the crew at Mendi. Let's get a few words from that team.
Mendi Constructions
This is fantastic, thank you very much. Firstly I'd like to acknowledge all the other finalists. It's great to see so many businesses putting in the effort to ensure we all send our workers home safe at the end of every day. So well done there. Thank you Minister Grace, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, their inspectors, their community engagement department and support staff, you all do a great job. Finally, thank you to the Mendi Group, we can't contribute this award to just one person, continuing improvement of workplace health and safety comes from a group culture and every one in that group doing their own thing so, from the laborers on the ground through to management, this award's for everyone, so thank you.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the crew at Mendi Construction. It really has been a long and solid journey for them at Mendi. In fact, all of the category four finalists had to overcome their own unique challenges. So congratulations to you all. We're now going to see our second short film for the day. It's about another one of our finalists in category seven, Best demonstrated leadership in work health and safety. This time we link up with the Stanwell Corporation and we'll take a look at how connectivity, leadership and a supportive workplace culture have positively impacted on the health and wellbeing of their workers.
Stanwell Corporation
My name is Owen Bevan, I'm the Health and Safety Manager at the Tarong Power Station and we work for Stanwell Corporation Limited. Stanwell provides electricity to the Queensland market and the national electricity market. Directly we employ 700 people, indirectly 400 and during our shut programs, up to 600 additional workers. Due to COVID we've identified that many workers would be away from home for up to six months, we had three back-to-back outages and we wanted to ensure that people had the right access to mental health programs, this involved education programs, coaching programs and also having a visible mental health professional out in the field. Making direct contact with workers proactively. The risk we identified was that people weren't utilising our traditional EAP service which is like a telephone line where people go for help. So what we thought we would do is develop a system which would see front-end access to mental health services rather than waiting for an event to happen and parking the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, we wanted to prevent people getting to the cliff at all and our solution became six parts. There was an education, coaching and approachability piece. We developed a purposeful leadership program where leaders were in the field conducting coaching conversations. Our leaders on the wore speaking shirts. These were slightly different colored shirts to regular and this allowed workers to identify someone to go up to and have a chat with. Once we could increase the level of conversation, we knew that we would reduce the stigma around mental health and increase participation. The benefit of having the mental health practitioners in the field was amazing. This initiative has brought applications across a variety of industries, already we've seen elements of our program adopted by the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where 115 businesses have signed up to participate in their Smile Program. Also we've shared our learnings with the Queensland Generators Safety Forum and right across the generation industry we're seeing a willingness to participate and to adopt some of these modules to increase the awareness of mental health in the workplace. In reflection, the program gives me a high level of satisfaction. I'm an advocate for regional development and rural health and mental health is a stigma. We, as people from the Bush, don't really want to speak about it but when we do, we want to speak face-to-face and when I look back on the program and know that we've changed people's lives, I just carry pride.
Chris Bombolas
Really encouraging to see mental health at the forefront and a culture of mateship and acceptance to encourage conversations about mental health. Well done to everyone at Stanwell. Without further ado, Webby, let's move on to category five, Best commitment to work health and wellbeing. The finalists in this category are Consolidated Pastoral Company, who developed good relationships with existing services to roll out a strong health and wellbeing program to all of their employees. Easternwell Camp Management for their Live Well Program that takes a holistic approach to overall health and wellbeing. The program is designed not just for the workplace, but with the intention to be a lifestyle. Stanwell Corporation Limited, for their innovative approach to addressing risks associated with fatigue, FIFO, DYFO and high pressure work environments as well as the effect of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing. Wesley Mission Queensland, for their new program, Building Healthy Connected People. It brings together elements of culture, body, mind, spirit and workplace. Shane, really keenly contested category this one. Over to you to announce the winner of category five, Best commitment to work health and wellbeing.
Shane Webcke
Thank you Bomber, once again, congratulations to all our finalists, there can only be one winner and that winner is the Wesley Mission Queensland.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the crew at Wesley Mission Queensland. Let's hear from them. I think we better tell them they're on mute.
Wesley Mission Queensland
Hi, thank you, sorry. Wesley Mission Queensland is so proud to accept this award. Thank you to WorkSafe Queensland for holding these awards. We are an innovative and responsive not for profit community service provider and we support over a 1,000 people in Queensland every year, so we strongly believe that the wellbeing of our workforce is a prerequisite for the success and wellbeing of our organisation. I have the privilege of heading and driving our work with Wellbeing Strategy and Program but I know that the success of this program is through strong support of our CEO, Jude Emma and our director of people and culture, Steve Elsis and all our other executive leaders. Our holistic intern approach to corporate wellness is our initiative that look at the four domains of healthy connected people framework and include programs such as our Gold Steward Workplace Award, Recognise Mental Health Officer Network, our flexible working arrangement policy and procedures that include consideration above legislative requirements such as people transitioning through menopause and our monthly wellness topical themed events, information and communication. So on behalf of Wesley Mission Queensland, thank you so much for this wonderful acknowledgement. Thank you.
Chris Bombolas
Congratulations to Wesley Mission Queensland and Shane, sometimes I wish I could put you on mute. Ah sorry-
Shane Webcke
Stop it.
Chris Bombolas
I was thinking that, I didn't mean to say it out loud, sorry. Look, congratulations in all seriousness to one of the iconic organisations in Australia in Queensland, Wesley Mission Queensland, it's clear that our theme this year that a holistic approach to work health and wellbeing is a really successful approach that can be applied to a range of industry. So well done everybody. Now onto category six and I'll unmute you now, Shane. Best demonstrated health and safe work design and the finalists are, Polyform Construction, for the development of the Uphouse Modular Building System. A pre-built self-erecting housing system that challenges the traditional process for house construction. Workplace Maintenance Solutions, who designed the Wheel Away Range to reduce manual tasks and awkward posture when removing wheels for tire replacement or brake maintenance on heavy vehicles. Couple of finalists, Shane, who were very anxious. So can you tell us who the winner of category six is, the Best demonstrated healthy and safe work design?
Shane Webcke
It would be my pleasure to do so Bomber and our winner is, Workplace Maintenance Solutions.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the team at Workplace Maintenance Solutions, let's hear from them right now.
Workplace Maintenance Solutions
Thank you very much. I'd like to thank Queensland Safe Work, sorry, I'm a bit overwhelmed by all this. I'd just like to thank everyone involved in the competition. All the judges, my partner, Lindy who stood by me for so many years while going through this, Brian Aland, my business advisor and friend, Simone Lee, my patent attorney who's gone out of her way to protect this. It's just such a wonderful feeling. Thank you. I'm overwhelmed, as I say, thank you.
Chis Bombolas
As our Best demonstrated healthy and safe work design winner, congratulations. Two very innovative designs, Shane and a big congrats to Martin and the crew at Workplace Maintenance Solutions for taking out the category.
Shane Webcke
Well, Bomber, can I say, I've had to change enough truck tires in my life, being from a farm and stuff like that really makes a difference. Practical, really usable solutions because the one thing safety can't become is an impediment to actually getting the job done efficiently and quickly, that ticks all the boxes.
Chris Bombolas
Fantastic, there you go. You heard it from our Ambassador. Now we turn our attention to category seven, Best demonstrated leadership in work health and safety. We've seen the films from our two very impressive finalists in this category. The judges for this category, members of the Work Health and Safety Board found it very difficult to split these two outstanding entries. To jog your memories, the finalists in this category are Australian Country Choice for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic in work health and safety and Stanwell Corporation Limited who have successfully improved their workplace culture to reduce stigma around mental health and encourage workers to open up. Two fantastic innovations and we give them both the thumbs up, Shane, but you've got to tell us, who is the winner of category seven, Best demonstrated leadership in work health and safety?
Shane Webcke
You're right about one thing, Bomber, they're both very, very worthy finalists in that category and wonderful things that we've just seen. I've done a bit of work with this mob, so I can endorse the fact that they in fact are very good innovators in safety and a great many things. Our winner is Australian Country Choice.
Chris Bombolas
Again, congratulations to Australian Country Choice. Let's bring in one of their representatives to accept the award.
Australian Country Choice
To win this award. For 50 years my family business has been working tirelessly to create safety platforms across 6 million acres of land, quarter of a million cattle, large feed lots and processing facilities. Safety is our priority. We want our people to go home safe. We never give up on that goal. So we invest heavily in R and D and different programs within our business to make sure we're at the cutting edge of our safety culture, we have 1,200 people, some of which is in hazardous situations, so when it's a never ending journey for us and we work really hard and we'll continue to do so. Thank you so much to the Queensland Government for this award. We are very thankful and excited by the opportunity. Thank you.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to Australian Country Choice and Webby as Queensland Safety Ambassador, was it pleasing to hear in the acceptance speech, that safety is their priority? I think that's a message that we could spread far and wide across Queensland, safety is a priority for everyone.
Shane Webcke
But Bomber, worth noting also and I do a lot of work with companies just like Australian Country Choice, being productive and making it quick is not mutually exclusive of doing it safely and in fact, companies who have great safety are generally exactly the other as well, productive and profitable. I think it's a very important distinction to make, that safety is part of that productivity, not an impediment to it.
Chris Bombolas
Excellent, well said. Well done to all the team, as I said, the judges had a very difficult decision to make this category and they asked me to truly commend Stanwell for the work they have done and continue to do and we encourage everyone, all the finalists, all those who submitted entries, all those doing great work in safety, in the workplace and of course health and wellbeing, please, keep up the great work. In this category, both entries rally do demonstrate strong leadership, positive culture and strive for continuous improvement. From one inspirational category to another, let's get into category eight, this is our Injured worker achievement award which recognises an individuals successful rehabilitation and stay at or return to work following a work-related injury. The finalists for this category are Ellie Dunn, Protech, for her commitment to getting back to work and expanding her skills to meet the requirements of her new job after she was severely injured in a motor vehicle accident when she was traveling between work sites. Geoff Spannagle, AACo, Geoff suffered broken bones and severe cuts to his right hand when the jack slipped out from under his car and the brake disc landed on his hand when he was trying to change a flat tyre. He focused on getting the best out of his treatment so he could get back to work and see his colleagues. Martin O'Hara, Nuflow Technologies. Marty was working as a chemical mixologist for a pipe lining company. He was assisting a colleague to pick up materials for the factory when he suffered a stroke. After hard work and determination following an intense rehab schedule and because of his commitment to recovery, it wasn't long before Martin was ready to get back to work. Steve Coleman. Steve was working in a high stress job and suffered sharp energy loss which impacted his motivation to do things he really enjoyed. Steve undertook regular psychology sessions and over time developed self-management skills that helped with his recovery, including physical activities and opening up to friends about his situation. Very inspirational and encouraging stories, Shane, over to you to announce the winner of category eight, Injured worker achievement award.
Shane Webcke
Well, Bomber, just before I do that, I'd hate to be judging this award because I was actually at an AACo property yesterday and I met Geoff who is one of the finalists and can I tell you before I do announce who has actually won, if that is the standard of entry and no doubt that it is, what I saw in him yesterday was a man who was very badly injured at work and I saw two things. I saw a man who was determined to get over it and not let it stand in his way but I also saw AACo as a company who truly cared about that employee and that service that he had given them over a great many years and collaboratively together, they had produced an outstanding result which no doubt our other finalists are exactly the same. So without further ado, I'll announce the actual winner who is Ellie Dunn, Protech.
Chris Bombolas
Congratulations to Ellie and let's get in a few words from Ellie, our winner in this category.
Ellie Dunn, Protech
I'd just like to take this opportunity to recognize all the wonderful people that helped me in my return to work journey, Protech, Mark Neely, Adrian Baker, Simon Gibson and Ray Banaham, Roadtechs, Jason Dalinger and all the team there. I would also like to thank Sean Boyle from NDIS and many more. I wish I could name you all, I really do. Thank you for helping me on this amazing journey and I look forward to where it goes from here. Thank you.
Chris Bombolas
Congratulations to Ellie Dunn from Protech, Shane, I've gotta say, I researched this category quite closely and I'm blown away by all the stories. These triumphs after life-changing injuries at work are just phenomenal. They are inspirational and how these guys have climbed up off the deck, off the canvas and got back into meaningful jobs and joined their colleagues and the love and the support that they received from their colleagues and bosses is incredible.
Shane Webcke
I mean, Bomber, well of course the first point of call is we want to prevent these things, but in dangerous occupations, things do go wrong in spite of the best efforts of everybody. What's really important and what we see in that award particularly and what I saw in Geoff at AACo yesterday, is a willingness to accept that that is the case but when it does go wrong to actually just dig in and help each other and surely if that epitomizes anything, it epitomizes what Australians are all about.
Chris Bombolas
Absolutely, well said and well done to all the finalists in the Injured worker category and thank you for sharing your stories, because it can't be easy, Shane, you've shared your story for a long time and that happened to your father. This is them, it happened to them.
Shane Webcke
Yeah, and again, it's once again, we get to see this, their story and how those things have come together which gives like a blueprint for other businesses and companies and people going through the same thing. It gives them inspiration and a road way, if you like, to how to do it, so well done to them, it's magnificent stuff.
Chris Bombolas
Let's move on to our third short film of the day. This one is from one of our finalists in category 11, Best demonstrated leadership in rehabilitation and return to work. We're about to hear from Nancy Andrian, Lendlease to take a look at her outstanding efforts and continuous improvement of rehab and return to work by implementing an effective injury management system.
Nancy Andrian, Lendlease
Hi, I'm Nancy, I'm the Injury Care and Recovery Manager for Lendlease. I've been with Lendlease for 11 years and have been in this role for the past six years. Our role involves facilitating a journey for our injured workers and returning them back to optimal health and lifestyle and ultimately, back to work. One of the things I saw was a huge disconnect between site personnel and the corporate personnel. I really believe the minute someone believes that people are caring for them and they're legitimately wanting to support them, that drives that motivation for them to want to get better and I think that made a huge difference, changing the mindset of the managers to care for their employees rather than just leave it up to me and have them participate in the return to work, participate and collaborate in the development of the suitable duties plans showed that the worker felt part of the team, the worker felt needed and wanted and I guess felt the love in developing a return to work journey.
Kathrun Agius
Nancy provides an enormous amount of support to our business, to myself and as well as to our staff and getting them back to work as quickly as possible. Part of our job is 24/7 incident response on a major motorway in Brisbane. We have a really positive response to Nancy's philosophy. She's positive with them on the phone. She'll go the extra mile. She works out of hours to provide support to them and I've only ever had great feedback about her. One of her strengths is that she's able to explain things in layman's terms and make us aware of our responsibilities and the employee aware of their responsibilities as well. So Nancy developed the app, LEWI, that's available to our staff 24/7. We have a number of staff that suffer from PTSD. So it's important for them to be able to get support when they need it and it's sometimes that's the middle of the night. It's a mechanism for our staff to be able to check in and monitor themselves and reach out for additional support if that's what's required.
Nancy Andrian
I had an idea to develop the app after seeing some pain points on site, in a way my app was to empower people managers, to seek supports that would benefit them in managing and looking after their employees. The most rewarding part of my role is when people get back to work and back to health and when they thank me and that thank is genuine. That's like, you know, it's an amazing feeling to have a thank you from somebody that's gone through a difficult time and, you know, we've removed barriers and supported them through a journey that then has led them to an outcome where they're back to, you know, their happy selves and normal selves. That's the most rewarding part.
Chris Bombolas
Great insight into what Nancy has done there at Lendlease and we'll get to that category very, very shortly. Now, let's move on to category nine, Best rehab and return to work management system. We have one finalist in this category, Wesley Mission Queensland for their injury hotline which provides workers with convenient and responsive injury reporting process to advise their manager of an injury and undergo a clinical assessment. This simplifies the development of the treatment regime and hotline staff can arrange medical appointments on behalf of the worker with a network provider or the workers family GP, Shane, one horse race this one, as they used to say, can you do the honours and announce the winner of category nine, Best rehab and return to work management system?
Shane Webcke
I can and I'm discarding tradition. I'm not going to open the envelope, I'm simply going to announce that the Wesley Mission is indeed the winner.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the team at Wesley Mission Queensland. Let's catch up with them for a few words.
Wesley Mission Queensland
Thank you, Chris. Firstly, I'd like to thank Safe Work Queensland and WHSQ for their support for our program and health and safety systems at Wesley Mission Queensland. You've used the word holistic a number of times throughout the presentation and the approach of our recovery at work program has been to adopt a holistic approach and with that in mind, there's a number of people I certainly must thank for their support and engagement in the program and that is the executive and our frontline managers who really have picked up the recover at work concept, participated in it and actively engaged with us, my team, to get better outcomes in terms of recover at work. I'd like to thank Julie Kroger and her case management team at Safe Work Queensland, really helped us an awful lot in this two to three year journey that we've been on and that's very much appreciated and have some.
Chris Bombolas
Love modern technology, Shane, we can put a person on the moon but it drops out just when we have a few words.
Shane Webcke
That is the way it goes Bomber, unfortunately.
Chris Bombolas
In all seriousness Shane, let's congratulate the team at Wesley mission Queensland, Well done.
Shane Webcke
Absolutely.
Chris Bombolas
Let's move on to our fourth short film for today from Nuflow Technologies in category 11, Best demonstrated leadership in rehabilitation and return to work. Nuflow's staff member, Marty, suffered a stroke at work. Nuflow's strong comradery played a critical role in Marty's return to work. They work with Marty, his rehab coordinator and physio to get him back into the workplace. Let's have a look.
Steve Murphy, Nuflow
My name's Steve Murphy. Here at Nuflow, I'm the Safety Officer. My role as Safety Officer is the day-to-day safety and the wellbeing of the employees. Nuflow as a company, we repair underground pipes. So it's a no dig repair. Marty suffered a massive stroke while he was out in one of the company vehicles with me at the time actually, I was driving. We got him back to work fairly quickly and called the ambulance, I stayed with him while at a time. After Marty was in hospital for three months, part of rehabilitation, it just started at that time after three months and we decided to just have a barbecue here for Marty. After the barbecue we decided that we would try get Marty back to work on one of our machines, the laminator. So we called out his occupational therapist, they assessed it with me and it was all agreed and within four months of Marty having a stroke, he was back to work. So that was the first return to work case that we've ever had but I think what that's done now it's given us some guidelines how we can help any injured employees in the future. Marty has come on leaps and bounds. One instance of that was when he has to write with his left hand 'cause he was right handed we couldn't read his writing whatsoever, now if you go and look at it, every single person can read it. So it's helped him in his physical part of that and also getting back to work, his mental part is fantastic as well. To get the management buy in was quite easy, very easy in fact. They were supportive in any ideas we had and very responsive to action what was proposed. There's so many outcomes that chose our company actually cares about its employees and their families and getting them back to work. My advice for any other return to work coordinator is, keep looking, don't just look at the small picture, try and adapt things that you've already got in place, adapt it to the person who needs it and always keep looking. The rewarding part of the role is the end result, so it might be a little bit hard in the beginning to get the ball rolling but definitely the rewards is looking at the guy we've got working out there, Marty and see the end result.
Chris Bombolas
Great insight into what is a pretty good story at Nuflow with Marty, four months after a stroke, he's back at work and he's giving us the thumbs up and he's smiling and being really productive.
Shane Webcke
Well, I'll tell you what that illustrates, Bomber and this is what all smart business people know. You want to get the best out of your people, out of the people, that you want them to care about your business, show them that you care about them. Don't tell them that you care, show them and when something goes wrong like that which is unrelated to work, showing that that is the level of care and respect that they have at that workplace. Imagine the message that sends to every other person who works here? So, well done. That's that's great stuff.
Chris Bombolas
Thanks Shane. Let's move on to category 10, Best individual contribution to rehabilitation and return to work. This category recognises an individual's outstanding efforts in rehabilitation and stay at or return to work and improving workplace rehabilitation culture. Our finalists are Jacinta McCartin, Coastal Rehab, for her person cantered approach and insight into why a worker wants to return to work and the benefits of treatment. Jacinta considers an individual's personal and family values and cultural beliefs that might shape their career aspirations or perceived barriers to achieving their return to work outcomes. Nancy Andrian, Lendlease, for her achievement with the design, construction and implementation of an employee program called LEWI. The app is a digital wellbeing toolkit that supports staff to take the appropriate steps to ensure the physical and psychological safety of people. It acts as a gateway to resources, products and services related to wellness, mental health and psychological safety. Victoria Harris, Energy Queensland, for her commitment to active and early intervention in order to improve the strategies of injury management in the workplace and involving the injured worker in the process, gives them input into their return to work plan. Over to you Shane, to announce the winner of category 10, Best individual contribution to rehab and return to Work.
Shane Webcke
Thank you Bomber, our very worthy winner is Nancy Andrian from Lendlease.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to Nancy, let's catch up with her right now.
Nancy Andrian, Lendlease
I would like to thank Workplace Health and Safety Queensland for the honour of this award. Also Work Cover Queensland, especially Paul Mitchell. He's been my mentor and has guided me through the years and I'm forever grateful. Lendlease, my employer, for helping me grow over this past decade and letting me be innovative and share my ideas to help continue create healthy workplaces for our people. Brett Simpson for nominating me. He's from Brisbane Motorway Services. Thank you so very much. I greatly appreciate the BMS team. All my managers and teams I work with in retirement living, in building services, retail, and property, everyone that helps me in my work. I am truly grateful. All the employees that have trusted me to help them get back to work and back to their ultimate lifestyles. This is my passion to help and care for others. So I'm truly thankful and I thank you all for trusting me to help you. My amazing manager, Amy and my team past and present, You have been a huge part of why I love what I do and finally, but most importantly, my family for surrounding me with love and teaching me the importance of caring for one another. Thank you.
Chris Bombolas
Congratulations to Nancy Andrian and the team at Lendlease. Fantastic work. I must say, all our finalists and of course the winner are leaders in your field and who wouldn't want to come back to work in such a supportive environment? Congratulations to all those organisations. This brings us to our fifth and final short film for the day. Let's head over to Protech, one of our finalists in category 11, Best demonstrated leadership in rehabilitation and return to work.
Simon Gibson, Protech
I'm Simon Gibson, I'm from Protech and I'm the regional manager for Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales. Protech are a labor hire and workforce management company. We've got 160 internal staff and about three and a half thousand contractors working in a variety of industries from manufacturing and specialising in construction and technical trades. So one of our employees, Ellie, was involved in a really serious motor vehicle accident a few years ago, was really lucky to survive, suffered some really horrific injuries in terms of losing a leg and losing a lot of her day-to-day function. When Ellie was at a stage of her recovery where we were talking about, what does that next role look like? And how can we get you back into the workforce? We look to the clients that we work with within Ellie's area and Roadtech was one that we knew how to, were really engaged with supporting workers back into suitable duties. So we engaged with them here in Toowoomba and we're really fortunate that together we can put together a plan for Ellie that would support her return to the workforce. We consistently have better outcomes for the workers when they're engaged in a work, they've got purpose, they've got motivation to get up every day and get involved in something other than their own recovery. We have much better outcomes and the workers will tell us that it's a better expense.
Ellie Dunn, Protech
So Protech was great with supporting me throughout my rehabilitation. They, you know, we're constantly in contact and I felt connected with that company, even though I wasn't there, which was great. It's very easy to shut away and forget about the world a little bit. So having everyone around you to support you was the reason I guess, I'm here now.
Simon Gibson
It was really challenging. Ellie was in a site-based role, a blue collar role where her skills and experience were on the tools day-to-day and having to then transfer Ellie's skillset to a white collar skillset which is sitting behind a computer and adding value to a company in a different way was really challenging and we've had to do a few little unique things to be able to support that.
Ellie Dunn
I was terrible at computers before coming to Roadtech and all the girls here have just have made it a really easy transition, they're always willing to teach me new things, which is pretty often.
Simon Gibson
I think the key to Ellie's success in recovery in her rehabilitation and return to work was that we've maintained, consistent communication with Ellie, whether it's our injury management coordinator and injury management team, our local account managers, even myself coming out and we've been up to see Ellie in hospital. We've seen her at her house as she's been on that journey. We've continuously worked with her over the years to get her back to this point. It didn't just happen because there was someone else driving in the background, Protech drove that with the support of a huge number of people. I think the key learning here for other businesses is to be engaged with your workers and support them and that anything really is possible if you engage, and you've got the right team and are really looking to put the outcome of the worker first.
Chris Bombolas
All right, we're almost there. Webby, in footy parlance, the full-time hooter is about to sound. I'll use that one for you.
Shane Webcke
There might be a try to be scored yet, we don't know-
Chris Bombolas
Yeah, you won't be scoring it.
Shane Webcke
Oh, wow.
Chris Bombolas
All right, let's move on to category 11, Best demonstrated leadership in rehabilitation and return to work. This award recognises outstanding leadership in rehabilitation and return to work practices implemented by an individual or organisation. We've already seen these finalists short films, but let's recap. Nancy Andrian, Lendlease, for her core services to support a total of 810 staff in their wellness journey and returning them to their optimum lifestyle post injury or illness. Nuflow Technologies. Earlier today, we were introduced to category eight finalists Martin who suffered a stroke at work and was placed into an induced coma. Nuflow kept in regular contact with Martin's wife and invited Martin to a staff barbecue. When Nuflow and Martin decided that getting back to work would be beneficial for him and the company. Protech, one of their employees, Ellie, was one of our winners in category eight and was involved in a car accident while traveling between work sites. Protech's commitment to Ellie's return to work was demonstrated in the high level of involvement, their executive team and in her return to work journey, including regular contact via phone, text and face-to-face catch-ups during her rehab. Shane, over to you to announce the winner, category 11, Best demonstrated leadership in rehabilitation and return to work.
Shane Webcke
Thanks again, Bomber and once again, I'm happy I didn't have to pick the winner of this very, very worthy finalist but there is a winner and that is Protech.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the team at Protech. Let's get a few words from them, Shane.
Protech
It gives me great pleasure to accept this award on behalf of Protech. At Protech, our purpose is to be a positive influence in people's lives and I'd like to start by paying tribute to Ellie Dunn for the bravery, resilience and grit she has displayed in what has been the most challenging time. I'd also like to thank the dedicated network of people that have supported her and supported the return to work journey through Marie Barum, our account manager and our injury management team, along with the team at Roadtech who've provided a wonderful opportunity for Ellie to return to the workforce. Thank you Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the crew at Protech. We're now at final category for the ceremony, category 12, Best response to COVID-19 pandemic in work health and safety which is really pertinent in these times that we've endured over the last 18 months to two years, Shane.
Shane Webcke
And it's incredible having wandered around the business community if you like, and over the past 24 months or so, some of the things that businesses have had to endure has just been horrific in terms of what this pandemic has done to everybody. So the innovators who have managed a way through it, gee, they've learned some lessons, but hard learn.
Chris Bombolas
Let's hope they can share them and people can take advantage of some of those journeys. This is a new category this year which recognises businesses or individuals who have shown excellence and innovation in work health and safety in response to the pandemic. Let's take a look at our finalists. Australian Country Choice. Their initial response to COVID-19 was focused on two critical and interdependent challenges, the health, safety and wellbeing of employees and maintaining operational continuity. A thorough and systematic risk assessment led to the implementation of several innovative control strategies at all levels of the hierarchy of control. Endeavour Foundation. Endeavor has not only mitigated the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace and in disability residential settings but also implemented strategies to monitor and support people working from home and people with disability who were required to isolate at home or in residential settings to eliminate any psychosocial hazards. RACQ, they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through a comprehensive suite of initiatives supported by strong leadership commitment. Throughout the pandemic, RACQ was able to manage the wellbeing of two and a half thousand staff, as well as maintain the essential services they provide to their members. Shane, three very worthy finalists, over to you to announce the winner of best category of, category 12, which is Best response to COVID 19 pandemic in work health and safety.
Shane Webcke
Thank you Bomber and in reality, I think we'd all agree. They're all winners but we've selected one and these guys certainly did it well, that is Australian Country Choice.
Chris Bombolas
Well done to the team at Australian Country Choice. Let's cross over to them.
Australian Country Choice
Thank you so much. We are so honoured to receive this award. I think, you know, ideally we wouldn't have a category for global pandemic but, you know, it certainly, it stuck for us, something a real challenge but it was also a opportunity to reflect on our business, make sure that our systems were right, engage the appropriate people and for us we put additional security measures in place that will stand the test of time, some of the stuff we've done has been something that we would have otherwise not done and therefore, you know, we look at that as a benefit, that'll be something that carries on. There was no rule book, there was no playbook with this, you just had to be responsive, agile, there was no one right answer and I think for us it was about continuing to learn from the experts around us and listen to our team. What was most exciting was that our whole business got behind this, all our employees, you know, really came together and was united to keep it safe, we are so grateful for that. We're not out of it yet, I think, you know, probably unfortunately the next six to 12 months is potentially, you know, the biggest risk when things do open back up and we have to manage COVID within our business and that's just another part of the journey and challenge, you know, we're up to that challenge and thank you to the Queensland Government, thank you to Shane and everybody, we're overwhelmed and really excited, thank you.
Chris Bombolas
Excited, the team from Australian Country Choice and Shane, I think they summed it up by saying, be responsive, agile and communicate, communicate, communicate with your people.
Shane Webcke
They were certainly all of that, weren't they?
Chris Bombolas
Absolutely. Well done to Australian Country Choice once again. This concludes the Safe Work and Return to Work Award Ceremony for 2021. Congratulations to all the finalists and award winners. Thank you for supporting this program and going above and beyond in your industries to make workplaces safe and looking after ill or injured workers and getting them back on the job as soon as possible and thank you, Shane Webcke, our Queensland Safety Ambassador for the work you do throughout the year and of course today.
Shane Webcke
Thank you Bomber, it was a pleasure to be here working with you once again, although you are reasonably unkind to me sometimes but that's okay, I'll overlook that. I'd just like to reiterate your congratulations to all our finalists and winners here today but I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who couldn't for a myriad of reasons, be part of this award ceremony. There are a million businesses out there doing a million good things and that's what I love about being able to visit those workplaces. I get to see firsthand just the sort of stuff that's going on. So congratulations to everyone we see here today, but also congratulations to all the businesses out there who innovating all the time.
Chris Bombolas
Yes, and I would encourage everyone to head to WorkSafe.qld.gov.au to check out all the fantastic finalists and winners entries. Of course, this ceremony has also been recorded and will be made available on our website somewhere. I encourage you to share it amongst your colleagues, family, friends, businesses, spread it far and wide. We want people to hear about some of these fantastic initiatives, some of these great, great stories that might help them when they get into situations where they need some help. Thanks for a great event and we hope to see you all in person next year to celebrate more new and innovative solutions and systems in safe work and return to work that's happening right here in Queensland by proud Queenslanders and I'll leave you with his final message as we do all the time here at Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, Work Safe, Home Safe.