Speakers: Phil Dwyer & Carly Chambers, OHS Officers, South West Institute of TAFE
Safety beyond city limits
What an eye-opening presentation this was and what a great double-act Phil & Carly proved to be! Phil Dwyer has the wisdom of many years of experience in the construction industry & OHS, while Carly Chambers only became a South West TAFE OHS Officer in 2023, but her enthusiasm for the role shone through in her joint presentation with Phil in August.
The two generations clearly complement each other as they tackle a number of unique OHS issues across 5 campuses covering a large geographic area in SW Victoria. The distances between campuses mean that Phil & Carly do a great deal of travel in their working week, and so both have had training in defensive driving, which is essential on rural roads.
Other risk factors about these regional sites include the fact that 3 of the campuses are in fire-prone areas. The most rural site, Glenormiston, was originally a squatter’s farm before becoming an agricultural college, and now a TAFE. School camps still take place there, however, and so night-time evacuation drills are required. Not to mention training to deal with wildlife!
One campus has the town’s public library on-site, which means there are issues with public access. Another has a public bus route running through the middle of it –something most workplaces don’t have to contend with.
During their presentation, they showed a couple of contrasting photos: the new WorkSafe HQ in Geelong, which has been a boon for awareness of regional OHS issues, and the WorkSafe regional office in Warrnambool. The latter covers a huge section of Western Victoria, but has only 4 inspectors and the building is a small shopfront that looks like it could have been a local pharmacy once upon a time. The contrast in resources is staggering.
Nevertheless, Phil & Carly certainly never have a dull moment, and enjoy the challenges each day brings.
When CSG added its Zoom component necessitated by the dreaded pandemic, we didn’t realise at first what a benefit it would be. Not only do we have people like Phil join as financial members, but it also means we can have speakers from far beyond our CBD limit. In this instance it proved a bonus for us, because it was really fascinating to hear about a completely different OHS environment.
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