Excellence Honoured in 2009
Despite the global financial crisis, a number of organisations have stepped up their OHS&E and received much deserved recognition at the 2009 NSCA/ExxonMobil National Safety Awards of Excellence. Transport and logistics company CRT Group took out the top prize, the ExxonMobil Award for Excellence in Occupational Health & Safety, at the gala OHS awards luncheon held at Dockside in Sydney.
Introducing the event, master of ceremonies and Channel Seven sports journalist Mark Beretta spoke of his pre-journalism career in his family’s plumbing business and its OHS implications. He then invited NSCA CEO and Managing Director Colin Seery to open the event.
Seery welcomed guests and finalists, acknowledging that – despite the challenging financial times of the past year – the finalists had not compromised safety and in a number of cases had enhanced their commitment to OHS through a range of new initiatives.
“What these awards acknowledge are companies and individuals that go above and beyond the normal call of duty in relation to OHS,” Seery said.
Seery also thanked the head judge Paul Baulch, the judging panel, NSCA staff and the major sponsor: ExxonMobil and category sponsors: Telstra, HWL Ebsworth, GIO and Favour Software.
President of the NSCA Bernie Doyle thanked members and entrants, as well as the NSCA staff and board for their hard work. “I’d like to thank our members and all the organisations who nominated for an award. Nominees are to be congratulated on putting forward a submission and I encourage you to keep growing and consolidating your commitment to OHS.”
He also congratulated the finalists, saying he knew they would continue to promote OHS best practice and look after the welfare and OHS of their staff.
Ron Reinten, Safety, Health, Environment & Security Manager, ExxonMobil Production, Esso Australia Pty Ltd, congratulated the finalists and wished them well. He also noted his industry’s achievements: “2009 marks the 40th anniversary of oil and gas production from Bass Strait – a significant milestone in Australia’s history. Since the first well was drilled in Bass Strait, almost 4 billion barrels of crude oil and 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas have been produced.”
Special guest speaker, Federal Safety Commissioner Helen Marshall, spoke about her observations concerning safety in the building industry and their application to other industries. She said there were “key barriers we still need to overcome if we are to achieve a sustainable change in the safety culture. And I suspect these are probably not unique to the Building and Construction Industry (BCI).”
“The first thing I want to talk about is that there is still too much focus on compliance rather than a genuine desire to improve performance,” she said. However, she qualified her comments by “acknowledging that there are some excellent companies out there - but there is enough anecdotal evidence and feedback from my auditors to show that many companies are simply trying to maintain their accreditation status by doing the absolute minimum”.
Secondly, she said there was an “ongoing disconnect between what is espoused by leaders and what actually happens in the workplace”.
“Obviously our scheme places high importance on leadership and I do believe that the majority of CEOs and top level managers that I deal with are genuinely concerned about safety.”
However, she said: “I’ve seen so many companies invest big dollars in safety and despite their best intentions the message isn’t connecting with their workers – the culture isn’t changing.” She added that the best performing companies tailored their practices and systems to the specific needs of their business, environment and workers.
ExxonMobil Award for Excellence in OHS, transport and logistics company CRT Group took out top honours, winning the ExxonMobil Award for Excellence in OHS. “As a business we were honoured to receive the award, as we have always believed that it was possible to make our workplace safer. The acknowledgement is a testament to the efforts of all of our employees,” a CRT Group spokesperson said.
Ensuring workers return home safely underpins CRT Group’s OHS efforts. “The premise that everyone has the right to return home from work uninjured is the most basic and powerful principle of safety management,” the spokesperson said. “The investment in systems and people is not an overnight process and we have made safety non-negotiable in all of our dealings.”
NSCA Member of the Year Award Lubrizol International, Inc (Australia) won the NSCA Member of the Year Award for its demonstrated commitment and leadership in OHS.
“My team and I are really pleased and proud to win NSCA Member of the Year,” said Thomas J Carroll, General Manager Lubrizol International, Inc (Australia). “Pleased because we see it as recognition for all the hard work put in by all of our team and the support we receive from our parent company, the Lubrizol Corporation, and proud because NSCA is such a role model and great name when it comes to safety.”
The award win appeared to take Lubrizol by surprise. “Yes – I was surprised. Not because we didn’t deserve it – you should see some of the work that goes into safety here at Lubrizol – but because we consider ourselves a small company with only 22 people and limited resources,” Carroll said.
So how does Lubrizol maintain its enthusiasm and motivation for being visionary and avoid the trap of only doing what’s necessary to comply? Carroll said this isn’t a problem for Lubrizol, as safety is an integral part of the Lubrizol culture and values.
“We receive a massive amount of support and assistance from head office,” Carroll said. “At the same time we have some really innovative thinkers who are always looking for a better way – wait for our ‘lead safety indicators’ submission in 2010.”
Ian Chisholm Award Cheryl Romer from Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group was honoured with the Ian Chisholm Award, recognising Romer’s exceptional contribution to OHS.
Romer set up Workplace Tragedy Family Support following the death of her husband at work. “We read too often about the number of people affected [by workplace death and injury] … but if you were like me you would possibly give the news a fleeting thought – it always happens to someone else,” she said in her acceptance speech.
Workplace Tragedy Family Support Group provides support to families whose loved ones have died or been severely injured in a workplace accident, advocates and lobbies for improved OHS policy, laws and processes, and uses personal stories to promote OHS in workplaces and the greater community.
“It is by using our loved one’s stories that we can humanise the statistics behind workplace accidents to bring about a cultural change in workplace safety,” she said. Romer thanked the NSCA and accepted the award on behalf of “all those whose lives have been permanently changed by a workplace fatality, a debilitating workplace accident or disease arising out of exposure to life-threatening chemicals or substances used in the workplace”.
Telstra Business Excellence through OHS&E Management Award Leighton Contractors won the Telstra Business Excellence through OHS&E Management Award for its OHS&E work during its construction of the Ipswich/Logan Interchange project in Brisbane.
“It made me very proud to accept the award on behalf of my team,” said Warren Crowther, Project Manager for Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd (Ipswich Motorway Upgrade and Ipswich/Logan Interchange). “It has given us all a real sense of achievement to complete our project with such a great safety record and to be recognised by the NSCA and others for our efforts.”
Highlighting the complexity of the task Leighton faced in completing the project, Crowther said: “The management of OHS on our project has been very challenging and we have learned a lot of valuable lessons that we will take with us to future projects. “One key criterion for ensuring OHS management is functioning well is making sure every team member understands their personal accountability and their authority to intervene when they see a risk.
“Probably the most important lesson we have learned on the project is the need for a team to always be their own biggest critic and to be always looking for the early signs of a developing problem or negative trend.”
Goodman Fielder Field Sales – Baking – won the Favour Software Best Implementation of a Specific OHS Management System Award for the impact of its OHS management system on the company. “We feel very honoured to receive the award on behalf of the Baking Sales team. The effort put in by the sales team has been a five-year journey and has developed into a great safety culture,” said Viv Collard, National Field Sales Manager, Goodman Fielder Baking.
Collard said the OHS management system has helped the team to understand hazard identification and control, encouraged safety talks from senior leadership and the Baking Sales team across Australia, identified safety training opportunities and created lead indicators for the Baking Sales Team that the team review monthly and that monitor safety performance and improvement. Also, Gladstone Regional Council was highly commended for its OHS solution.
“Our Council and staff were very proud to be recognised for a highly commended award at this years NSCA awards for the Every Tip initiative,” said Ron Doherty, Director Environment andRegulation, from Gladstone Regional Council.
“Our Council and safety section will be able to build on this result to encourage innovation across the organisation and hopefully this time next year we may have another worthwhile entry for consideration.”
In developing the Every Tip, Doherty said “we found no real alternative existed to reduce the risk to the public other than with the normal accepted practice of using safety chains and rails to prevent the public leaning over the skip bin and risk falling”.
“This drove us to search for an alternative with the safety section, and the manager urging the landfill coordinator to talk with engineering shops – hence the development of the Every Tip unit,” he said.
Best OHS Training Program Award Youthsafe won this year’s Best OHS Training Program Award for its young worker training program, ‘In Working Order’.
“The entire Youthsafe team are very excited that young worker safety has been recognised by the NSCA,” said Joanne Kemp, Education Programs Manager, from Youthsafe.
“It has also been a fantastic experience to form such positive and rewarding relationships with key organisations, such as WorkCover NSW and the Australian Retailers Association.”
In responding to the specific needs of young workers and their employers, Kemp said: “There are certain factors unique to young workers which put them at greater risk of injury.
“They are typically doing unskilled or semi-skilled work, change jobs frequently and therefore remaining ‘new’ in their roles for longer periods.
“Young workers are less likely to identify unsafe practices or be reluctant to speak out about them, are often unaware of their OHS rights and responsibilities and have limited experience in workplace settings.
“Putting specific policies, procedures and systems in place to promote young worker OHS will help to ensure that employers and supervisors know precisely how safe and skilled their young workers are.
“‘In Working Order’ was designed to address these issues. It clarifies the role of young people, educators, employers, supervisors and parents in preventing young worker injury. It also helps young workers recognise, assess and manage safety issues which affect them.”
GIO Best Communication of a Safety Message Award The Commonwealth Bank of Australia took out the GIO Best Communication of a Safety Message Award. “We were up against such high quality finalists and were just so happy that we were in the running. So, I was absolutely thrilled when we took out the top prize,” said Faye Frewer, Manager, OHS Communication and Training, from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“We are very proud of the Safety Day initiative and are delighted that it was recognised by the NSCA. We have been able to use Safety Day to raise awareness of safety across the Bank. It is through this initiative that employees know their safety is a high priority in our organisation and helps to make every day a safe day.”
In ensuring that safety communication remains part of a broader approach to managing OHS, Frewer said: “Our team has worked hard to build an effective OHS Management System and the Safety Day initiative is used to promote the system and launch new initiatives.
“By utilising Safety Day as a communication tool to promote a consistent OHS message and demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to OHS we have been able to have an impact on safety culture, which can be particularly difficult in such a large organisation as ours.”
Reinforcing the importance of the communication strategy, Frewer said: “Safety Day is a very important part of our OHS strategy and system and it allows us to be creative and have some fun with safety.”