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Workplace health and safety

Home > Workplace health and safety > Training, licences and registrations > Seminars, conferences and events > 2008 Work Safe Awards > Work Safe Awards 2007 winners

Work Safe Awards 2007 winners

Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations John Mickel announced the winners of the inaugural Queensland Work Safe Awards at an industry function at Parliament House on Wednesday 23 October 2007, during Work Safe Week.

The awards provide an opportunity to recognise and promote best practice and encourage workplaces to develop and share innovative safety solutions that will result in safer and healthier workplaces throughout the state.

They also offer many benefits for companies entering and winning awards, including hard evidence of organisational performance, a positive impact on workforce morale and corporate pride as well as promoting a positive image to the local community.

The best workplace health and safety management system

Winner
Townsville City Council for its strong commitment to improving health and safety for its 1300 employees who undertake a diverse range of work activities to deliver infrastructure and services to the Townsville community.

The council developed a ‘workplace health and safety management system manual’ for management and staff which provides for a one point of access to a vast range of safety related subjects and information. The intent of the manual is to assist employees in identifying workplace hazards and reducing injuries and illnesses in council workplaces.

The manual is written in clear, concise language and serves as a guide on a variety of workplace health and safety issues. It also acts as a reference document to assist council in achieving its workplace health and safety policy objectives.

To ensure its ongoing relevance, the manual will be updated regularly to reflect legislative changes and amendments to the council’s policies and procedures.

Townsville City Council’s system demonstrates its commitment to making workplace health and safety awareness an integral part of its business.

Finalist
Myer Queensland, Mitchelton, Brisbane for implementing an excellent safety management system that demonstrates commitment to achieving continuous improvement in safety performance and a strong safety culture.

Assessment criteria for this award

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The best solution to an identified workplace health and safety issue

Winner
Watpac Australia Pty Ltd, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, for developing a safe means of installing the 20,000m2 of fabric membrane roof panels in the construction of Skilled Park stadium at Robina, which is to be the home of the Gold Coast Titans rugby league club. This was a good example of achieving the safe construction of a design that created a high risk for workers.

The safe installation of the fabric membrane roof panels, fitted between the structural steel beams, was a significant workplace health and safety design issue, as the installation required workers to work at heights in excess of 20 metres.

Watpac’s commitment to the principles of safe design was demonstrated through its efforts to develop a methodology which provided a safe system of installing the fabric membrane during construction.

Together with the designer, subcontractors, consultants, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, and after a lengthy consultation process over several workshop meetings, a solution was agreed to incorporate many facets of fall prevention into one solution.

A purpose-built working platform was designed to attach to the structural steel as part of the solution. It was lightweight to avoid injury during installation and removal; provided a surface to lay out the roof membrane and was easy to manoeuvre, eliminating falls from heights in line with the hierarchical controls of risk management.

In addition to the platform, there were further safety measures and controls implemented to ensure the residual risk was minimised, if not eliminated, through strict controlled processes.

Finalist
Boyne Smelters Limited, Boyne Island near Gladstone, Australia’s largest aluminium smelter, for its innovative approach to worker participation in finding solutions to ergonomic issues through an annual staff competition that encourages, recognises and rewards improvements made in various work areas.

Myer Queensland, Mitchelton, Brisbane, for putting in place a safety management system that achieved a cultural shift in its 3,000 strong workforce and led to a marked reduction in the higher than industry average of lost time injuries at its 10 department stores across Queensland.

Assessment criteria for this award

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Best workplace health and safety practices in small business

No award was presented in this category.

Assessment criteria for this award

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Best individual contribution to workplace health and safety

Winner
John (Dick) Turpin, Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd, Milton, Brisbane, for his many years of dedication to workplace health and safety, in particular the positive influence he had on the safety culture in the high-risk construction industry through his strong mentoring and training skills.

Dick’s career with Leighton Contractors spans over 24 years, working on 34 projects.

He has worked with young graduates in their first safety roles, experienced workers and senior managers.

Dick motivates safe behaviour and encourages exceptional safety performance across all levels of the organisation.

He played an instrumental role on the Port of Brisbane Motorway Alliance project in 2003 as the Workplace Health and Safety Officer and Training Officer, where he successfully introduced best practice standards. He also took full carriage of general safety management, including compliance with regulatory safety and environmental obligations, training and induction.

Dick also has the role of introducing and maintaining applicable safety compliances on projects to meet the Federal Safety Commission’s Compliance Audits to AS4801.

His unsurpassed passion for health and safety, his experience and commitment has contributed to a greater level of safety awareness among Leighton Contractor staff.

Assessment criteria for this award

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Best solution to an identified electrical safety issue

Winner
Upper Haughton Harvesting Pty Ltd, Giru, north of Ayr, for simple and cost-effective solutions to minimising the risk of contact with overhead power lines when sugar cane unloading and bin handling are undertaken at rail sidings.

A designated bin lift and tip point was introduced via signage and instruction to minimise the likelihood of accidental contact with power lines on Blacks Road in Giru, Queensland.

Other controls, such as power line flag markers were installed on the power lines crossing the cane delivery point to ensure the power lines were visible for high lift plant and machinery operations.

Additionally, controls were put in place to ensure cane haul-out vehicles and other vehicles accessing or exiting the rail siding via the nearby Blacks Road did not collide, as previously cane haul-out vehicles could access the haul-out siding from any direction.

To ensure safety, haul-out drivers were instructed to enter the siding from one end and exit via the other, minimising risk of collision for both haul-out vehicles entering and exiting the siding and minimising possible incidents involving vehicles using Blacks Road.


Assessment criteria for this award

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Townsville City Council, Watpac Australia Pty Ltd and John (Dick) Turpin from Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd are now eligible to enter the national Safe Work Australia Awards run by the Office of the Australian Safety and Compensation Council.

 

Last updated 22 July 2008