Central Safety Group Melbourne

August 2013

Enforceable Undertaking: A catalyst for culture change

Presentation by: Maree Thomson, Safety Improvement Facilitator, Australian Air Express (AaE)

Presentation package now available (members only)

Accepting an enforceable undertaking (or EU) with Comcare as an alternative to prosecution for a safety breach proved a valuable exercise in improving OH&S decision making and safety culture for freight company Australian Air Express (AaE). This was the topic of a lunchtime presentation to Central Safety Group on August 13, 2013, by Maree Thomson, the company’s Safety Improvement Facilitator.
Maree said the company committed to review and rectify not only the specific factors which contributed to the incident, but also to conduct a critical review of all components of its safety management system and safety culture. It did this with the help of a highly successful collaborative project with the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC), Australia’s leading transport safety research centre. Maree said the findings from this research were challenging for the company to hear, but very constructive.

The presenter:

Maree Thomson’s position as National Environment Health and Safety Manager Australia Air Express (AaE) commenced in 1999 after the company had recently acquired a Self-Insurance Licence. The experience was wide and varied having been involved in major project work with the building and fit-out of freight processing centres on the eastern seaboard, downsizing during the GFC, a demerger and the retail section being transferred to Star Track. In November 2012, Qantas acquired 100% ownership of AaE and Maree became Safety Improvement Faciltiator working with the Corporate Safety and Compliance team. Her task was to manage the implementation of findings from a research project undertaken by Monash University Accident Research Centre around cultural change. Prior to this, her health and safety experience was in food manufacturing.

June 2013

Site Visit: MacKillop Family Services

Presentation by: Jim Hinton, Manager Work Health and Safety, MacKillop Family Services

Presentation package now available (members only)

An historical overview of the MacKillop buildings in South Melbourne, which used to be an orphanage, was given by Jenny Glare, Manager Heritage & Information Service at MacKillop. Jenny accompanied us on a tour of the buildings.
Afterwards, Jim Hinton gave an insight into the OHS culture at MacKillop, which has about 800 employees and 400 volunteers, and takes responsibility for the highest risk children in Victoria. Jim outlined MacKillop's operational model that ensures health and safety is incorporated into all of their day-to-day operations.

April 2013

WAVE: The Breakaway Techniques

Presentation by: Ollie Matthews, National OHS Auditor, Healthscope

Presentation package now available (members only)

Handling violence or aggression in the workplace was the subject of an absorbing and useful presentation by our President, Alan 'Ollie' Matthews at Central Safety Group's meeting on April 9, 2013.
Ollie  shared details of a system for dealing with incidents of violence and aggression or occupational assault, which he developed for his employer Healthscope, one of Australia's largest private hospital and clinic operators.
The system he uses is the WAVE system - Workplace Aggression and Violence Education - which is a tool for identifying, de-escalating and keeping employees safe in aggressive or violent situations.

The presenter:

Alan (Ollie) Matthews’ career in OHS stretches back as far as the early days of Central Safety Group itself. In 1974 he became technical advisor for Pratt Safety Systems, where he worked with the authorities to develop HAZCHEM signage for vehicles and buildings, and also specialised in the safe storing and dispensing of chemicals and flammable liquids. In 1986 Ollie commenced as the first OHS Manager with the now John Fawkner Private Hospital in Coburg. By 1991 he was OHS Manager for 5 hospitals, eventually becoming the National OHS Auditor for Healthscope hospitals across Australia. In 2003 he was elected President of Central Safety Group, a position he still holds. Recently he was awarded Life Membership of CSG.

November 2012

Workplace Psychological First Aid

Presentation by: Rhonda Brand, Organisational Psychologist, Xchanging

Presentation package now available (members only)

Stress can be both positive and negative (distress). When an event occurs in a workplace that causes distress, psychological first aid is an effective tool for assisting workers to deal with it. That was the topic of a talk to Central Safety Group on November 13, 2012 by Rhonda Brand, Organisational Psychologist at Xchanging.
Rhonda outlined the many and various responses to a critical incident that a person may experience, ranging from physiological to psychological, emotional and behavioural. She then spoke about psychological first aid, what it involves and what it is not. Rhonda also gave examples of the application of psychological first aid to particular organisations.

The presenter:

Rhonda became Psychologist/Organisational Development Consultant for Xchanging in 2006. During this time she has been involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of targeted interventions to reduce incidents and severity of psychological injuries across Victorian workplaces. Her work was recognised at the 2010 WorkSafe Awards in the category of Best OHS solution in the Public Sector & Community Services. The framework Rhonda developed was the first stress prevention model recognised in 22 years of the prestigious safety awards. Rhonda has a BA in Psychology & Sociology from Monash University as well as a Graduate Diploma in Applied Psychology/Organisational Psychology from Victoria University.

September 2012

Safety and upgrade of the Western Ring Road

Presentation by: Fred Worboys, Quality Officer, Tulla Sydney Alliance

Presentation package now available (members only)

Jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian Governments, the M80 Ring Road Upgrade is a $2.25 billion project under the federal Nation Building Program. 20000 trucks currently use the Ring Road each day and the project is expected to be completed by mid-2014.
Fred Worboys, Senior Project Engineer at Hyder Consulting has been engaged as Quality Officer for the Tulla Sydney Alliance (TSA), which is constructing the section between Sydney Road and the Calder Freeway.
At Central Safety Group's meeting on September 11, 2012, Fred outlined the high risk environment faced day-to-day by road construction personnel. He also spoke extensively about a number of strategies being employed by TSA to mitigate the risks of working in “live traffic”.

The presenter:

Fred Worboys has been Senior Project Engineer at Hyder Consulting since 2009. He has extensive experience in technical and commercial roles and his fields of expertise include Project Management; Quality Management & Auditing; Systems Conceptualisation, Development & Management; Personnel Management & Recruitment and Contract Management. Fred has a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from La Trobe University and a Masters in Systems Engineering from RMIT University.