A hazards scavenger hunt, virtual race and safety bingo are among the innovative activities entered in the competition to celebrate National Safe Work Month.

Every October, SafeWork SA encourages South Australian businesses to host work health and safety events specific to their workplace and share them with SWSA.

A diverse range of businesses from medical research groups, government agencies, youth organisations and manufacturers took up the challenge and registered their customised events and initiatives that addressed risks specific to their workers. Activities were awarded points by a judging panel made up of WHS specialists, focusing on:

• WHS relevance
• employee engagement, and
• originality

This year’s competition generated dozens of high-calibre activities that made choosing the winners extremely difficult for the judges selecting the gold, silver and bronze awards from a $2000 prize pool.

The winners are:

• The Hospital Research Foundation Group
• The YMCA
• Department of Human Services
• Qscan
• Adelaide Oval
• Ashborn Industries

The judging panel thanked all of the participating organisations and said this year's entries and activities were the most engaging in the competition's history.

Gold Award winners

The Hospital Research Foundation Group

The Hospital Research Foundation Group left no stone unturned in its bid to highlight the importance of workplace safety during National Safe Work Month. Its activities included a ‘hazards scavenger hunt’ and a 90km virtual race to get its employees moving, as well as professional wellbeing sessions, videos and opportunities for staff to connect with ‘Mental Health First Aiders’. The organisation also opened its Brain, Body Fitness studios which offer staff low impact fitness sessions with a focus on friendly competition, improving physical fitness and raising awareness of the connection between physical and mental wellbeing. To cap off the month, all staff were treated to a catered lunch as an opportunity to unwind and spend some social time with their colleagues.

The YMCA

The YMCA introduced a ‘Youth Spruce your Storeroom Challenge’ complete with prizes for staff who came up with innovative safety solutions in storage areas. The challenge encouraged young staff members to imagine themselves in a manager’s role and share in the responsibility for safety. YMCA SA engages more than 400 young staff and volunteers and has identified safety concerns around lack of experience, awareness and insufficient skills and training. In this initiative, staff members were invited to transform their storerooms to a safe working space by identifying hazards, brainstorming ways to eliminate them and improving manual handling and traffic flow in confined or congested spaces.

Silver Award winners

Department of Human Services

The DHS invited its 28 Health and Safety Representatives to a comprehensive workshop entitled ‘Influencing Wellbeing and Safety in the Workplace’. The training provided insights, tools, and strategies to support the Department’s HSRs including tips on how they could best communicate and consult with staff and managers to influence safety in the workplace. In a second National Safe Work Month activity, the DHS hosted a leadership forum for more than 150 managers on ‘Psychosocial Safety’. The attendees received an introduction to psychological safety and a summary of what constitutes a psychosocial risk. The leaders were also provided with an overview of psychosocial risk regulations and the role of leaders in managing psychosocial hazards.

Qscan

The Qscan Group developed a comprehensive national response to violence and aggression in the workplace. The initiative encompassed a policy, procedure, zero tolerance posters, and specialised training modules to equip staff with the skills to identify potential risks and effectively de-escalate challenging situations. The pro-active, four-day training program was an excellent example of an organisation taking a pro-active approach to countering workplace aggression. The Qscan Group, in concert with World Mental Health Day, also launched a ‘happiness scorecard’ activity to give its team members an insight into their overall happiness and well-being.

Bronze Award winners

Adelaide Oval

Adelaide Oval held several educational and interactive activities to shine a light on the importance of safety in the workplace. These included Safety Bingo, in which team members were provided with a specially designed Safety Bingo card with elements such as hazard reporting, personal wellness goals, emergency procedures and training goals. Sixteen staff members received training in Mental Health First Aid to provide greater support to their colleagues. Staff and Adelaide Oval Ambassadors also received onsite skin checks from Medic at Work. The ‘Safety – Spot the Difference’ initiative had a different weekly focus with staff members from various departments challenged to ‘spot the difference’ and identify risks and hazards in the workplace. The month ended with a ‘Safety Amazing Race’ where staff completed tasks at four safety stops based on First Aid, Manual Handling, PPE and safety definitions.

Ashborn Industries

This small manufacturing business of less than 100 employees undertook a comprehensive program of activities throughout October at its regional and city offices. These included a detailed workplace noise assessment, safety awareness activities and weekly ‘Safe Morning Teas’ across all sites in October. It is the second year that Ashborn Industries has been recognised in the SWSA competition.