Central Safety Group Melbourne

Executive Director leaves WorkSafe Victoria

Dr Narelle Beer has appeared regularly in SafetyAtWorkBlog articles. Her most recent public appearance was at the Australian Institute of Health and Safety national conference. No more is Dr Beer WorkSafe Victoria’s Executive Director Health and Safety.

In an email to WorkSafe staff, dated June 5 2024, CEO Joe Calafiore said:

“Narelle was appointed as our Executive Director, Health and Safety in 2021, bringing with her a wealth of expertise from her time in policing, both in Victoria and the Northern Territory. In her time at WorkSafe, Narelle has shown a genuine commitment to keeping Victorian workers safe and has been a passionate advocate for strong regulation that holds those who do not to account.

"On behalf of WorkSafe I thank Narelle for her contribution and wish her all the best for the future.

"With Narelle’s departure, and with the commencement of our new Executive Director of People and Culture Jane Barker in the near future, I have asked Sam Jenkin to lead the Health and Safety Business Unit for the next six months, starting today.”

I only ever met Dr Beer at her public appearances at conferences, seminars and other occupational health and safety events. I first saw her speaking at a lawyer’s breakfast seminar several years ago. Her presentation was a little uncertain, but it did not take long for her to become a polished public speaker to the extent that at last month’s national conference, her twenty-minute presentation was relaxed, confident and flawless.

Additional comment from Central Safety Group's Membership Co-ordinator:
We were honoured to have Dr Narelle Beer as special guest speaker for our 60th anniversary celebration at Parliament House in October 2022. At that time she committed to assisting CSG develop closer ties with WorkSafe Victoria and she was true to that promise.

WorkSafe Victoria is now one of our valued Corporate Members; they are represented at most of our events with several attendees and we have already had speakers from WorkSafe present to us. We join CEO Joe Calafiore in wishing Narelle every success in the future.

Kevin Jones https://safetyatworkblog.com/

How storytelling connects to safety

It is not often we hear directly from someone who has been involved in a workplace accident -to see that person sitting in a wheelchair tells you straight away that his will be a story with impact. Indeed it was when James Wood aka Woody presented to us on the 11th June.

Woody's presentation raised a few conflicting thoughts for me. For instance, he spoke incredibly well and, for someone who has never been a safety professional, he had some powerful safety messages to share. In fact, that is what he does now: share his story and messages in workplaces all over Australia. However, he began his career as a diesel mechanic and would give anything to have been able to stay in that job he loved. While we were fortunate to have Woody as our speaker, what a terrible cost for him to be in that position.

The other challenging aspect of the talk was Woody's emphasis on personal responsibility. He explained in detail the choices he made on the day of the accident that led to those life-changing events. When talking on the topic of choices, he included those in the workplace who may or may not speak up if they see something wrong. These are all valid points, but there was very little focus on systems failures and management responsibility.

What I found most valuable from Woody's story was the perspective of an injured worker - insights that anyone involved in Return to Work should also hear. There were so many mental as well as physical challenges, and they went well beyond himself. His accident affected his family, work mates and the community. It was eye-opening to learn of the many ramifications and emotions, and it certainly had an impact on the audience on the day.

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