Previous ThinkSafe campaigns
1996 - Initial campaign
The then Premier Richard Court officially launched the ThinkSafe campaign in January 1996.
The initial ThinkSafe campaign encouraged a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week safety culture in industry and the whole community within Western Australia. The campaign aimed to significantly reduce the State's accidental death rate. At that time more than 500 people died in Western Australia each year from accidental injuries.
The campaign focussed on promoting safety at home, on the roads and at work through ThinkSafe HomeSafe, ThinkSafe DriveSafe and ThinkSafe WorkSafe initiatives. Promotion of the 24 hours a day safety culture recognised that many hazards are common to work and to home (eg. falls, slips, hazardous substances, electricity and manual handling).
Promotion and advertising strategies for 1996 included print advertising in newspapers and journals, articles in WorkSafe's SafetyLine magazine, distribution of 30,000 ThinkSafe posters, billboards at various metropolitan locations, radio advertising and television advertising.
The first two ThinkSafe television advertisements were broadcast across the state for six weeks, commencing in August 1996. The advertisements had key messages related to the ThinkSafe theme and explaining the ThinkSafe SAM Steps.
The ThinkSafe theme was incorporated into relevant departmental activities, such as WorkSafe Week in September and the WorkSafe Smart Move Internet program for high school students in October.
The first evaluation of the ThinkSafe campaign (ThinkSafe 1996 Evaluation) was undertaken by Insight Research in October.