Winners named for 2015 national safety awards

The winners of the 2015 NSCA Foundation National Safety Awards of Excellence have been announced at an awards ceremony held at the Sydney Shangri-La Hotel last week.

10 awards across a number of categories, recognising active promotion and WHS initiatives, were given to Australian businesses and organisations from a pool of both public and private sector entries.

Elders was one of the big winners for the year, nabbing two awards in the categories for ‘Best Communication of a Safety Message’ and the GIO ‘Excellence in WHS’.

Kimberly-Clark was named the winner of the ‘Best Health and Wellbeing Program’ for its Early Intervention Program (EIP) offering an evidence-based ‘test-retest’ approach to evaluate the effectiveness of employee health, risk factors for chronic conditions, movement function, injury prevalence and injury severity.

The program was developed to aid early intervention and in response to the slow recovery rate of the ageing workforce.

“Nothing is more important than the health and safety of our employees, and at Kimberly-Clark we believe that occupational injuries and illnesses are preventable and can be eliminated — no production goal, cost-saving, time-saving or competitive advantage is worth an injury of any kind,” said Jose Perez, Kimberly-Clark’s Ingleburn Mill manager.

2015 Winners list

• Best Continuous Improvement of a WHS Management System: SA Water Corporation
• Best Solution of a WHS Risk (Small Business): Adams Haulage
• Best Solution of a WHS Risk (Medium to Large Business): Adelaide Cemeteries
• Best WHS Training Program: Employers Mutual
• Best Communication of a Safety Message: Elders
• Ian Chisholm Award for the Best Individual WHS Achievement: Stephen Shield, BOC
• Best Safety Leadership Program/Initiative: Metropolitan Express Transport Services
• Best Health and Wellbeing Program: Kimberly-Clark Australia
• GIO Workers Compensation Award for Excellence in WHS: Elders
• NSCA Foundation Member of the Year: Sparke Helmore Lawyers

For more details on other finalists and highly commended recipients, go to www.nationalsafetyawards.com.au/2015-finalists/.