Work Safety Awards winners lead the way in safety
Issue Date: - Monday, 2 November 2009
The six winners of the prestigious 2009 Work Safety Awards Western Australia were announced on Friday night.
Perth Clinic, the Public Transport Authority of WA, Joondalup Lotteries House Inc, PPC Linley Valley Fresh, Rob Greenhalgh and Gerard Overdijk are the winners of the four award categories and will now be entered into the national Safe Work Australia Awards.
WorkSafe WA Commissioner Nina Lyhne said today the six winners were terrific examples of the many excellent workplace innovations and occupational safety and health systems being developed in WA.
“These awards provide the opportunity for innovative Western Australians to gain national recognition for their achievements,” Ms Lyhne said.
“They recognise outstanding occupational safety and health management, solutions and innovation in both public and private sector workplaces in WA that reduce the risk of work-related injury and disease.
“Awards such as these are all about encouraging best practice in safety and health, and the winners are leading the way by making a significant contribution to making WA workplaces safer.”
The award for best safety and health management system in the private sector was won by Perth Clinic.
Perth Clinic is a 98-bed psychiatric hospital in West Perth providing acute health care to patients with mental health problems.
It has developed and maintained a high-quality integrated safety management system that ensures the safety and wellbeing of patients, visitors, contractors and its 185 employees.
The award for best safety and health management system in the public sector was won by the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia.
The Authority is responsible for all public transport in metropolitan and regional areas of the State, and for designing, building and maintaining the public transport infrastructure.
It has an excellent and practical safety and health management system in place, and safety is incorporated into all key result areas for the organization.
The award for best workplace safety and health practice in small business was won by Joondalup Lotteries House Inc.
Joondalup Lotteries House was constructed with a Lotterywest grant in 1999, and supplies low-cost office accommodation to not-for-profit organizations that provide services to Perth’s northern suburbs.
A safety committee with representatives from the organisations that use the accommodation has developed and implemented a comprehensive safety and health management system.
The award for best solution to an identified workplace safety and health issue was won by PPC Linley Valley Fresh.
PPC Linley Valley Fresh is a pork abattoir in Wooroloo that processes and packages pork for domestic and export markets.
The company developed a carton erector that can assemble several different sized cartons, reducing the risk of manual handling and repetitive strain injuries previously faced by workers.
The award for best individual contribution to safety and health by a person with no formal responsibility for occupational safety and health was won by Rob Greenhalgh from the University of Western Australia.
Rob is a Senior Administrative Officer at UWA’s School of Mechanical Engineering, and has been the voluntary safety officer for 15 years.
He has worked tirelessly to develop and maintain safe systems of work in an environment in which students and staff face hazards such as rotating machinery parts, chemicals, flammable and toxic gases, cryogenics and lasers.
The award for best individual contribution to safety and health by a person with responsibility for occupational safety and health was won by Gerard Overdijk from Badge Constructions (WA) Pty Ltd.
Gerard is a Senior Construction Manager at Badge Constructions who, although he had no formal safety qualifications, took on the job of reviewing Badge Constructions’ safety management systems.
He consulted with safety specialists and staff at all levels, and successfully implemented a new system that received national accreditation.
Winners of the national Safe Work Australia Awards will be announced early in 2010.
“Each of the category winners of the 2009 Work Safety WA Awards is a very worthy winner, and each now has the opportunity for their achievements to be recognised across Australia,” Ms Lyhne said.
“WA has already established somewhat of a proud tradition at the national level, with two of the three WA entrants in the Safe Work Australia Awards winning their national categories in 2006.
“I heartily congratulate the winners, along with everyone else who nominated for the awards, and encourage businesses of all sizes to nominate for the 2010 Work Safety Awards Western Australia.”
Media contact: Caroline De Vaney 9327 8744 or 0408 927563 (media enquiries only).
Winner’s contacts
Perth Clinic
Moira Munro 9488 2970
Public Transport Authority of Western Australia
David Hynes 9326 2051 0438 919548
Joondalup Lotteries House
Anne Welsby 9300 2550
PPC Linley Valley Fresh
Stacey Bohm 0407 700764
Rob Greenhalgh (University of Western Australia)
Rob Greenhalgh 6488 7099
Gerard Overdijk (Badge Constructions)
Robert Woodford 0411 598358