The opportunity to drive innovation through health and safety initiatives for women or young people working in South Australia is here with $25,000 in grants available through SafeWork SA’s annual Augusta Zadow Awards.

SafeWork SA established the annual awards in recognition of the work done by Augusta Zadow in the late 1800s in gaining health safety rights for women and young workers that we now take for granted.

‘I encourage South Australian’s to continue the legacy of Augusta Zadow in submitting their initiatives that champion innovation and improve the health and safety of women or young people working in South Australia’, said Executive Director, Martyn Campbell.

The award grant can be used to develop a work health and safety initiative, meet the cost of further education or research. Successful applicants must propose a project that will benefit women and young people by:

• providing a solution to a work health and safety issue, and/or
• significantly improving health and safety through research and further education.

‘SafeWork SA has recently seen many ways that businesses have adapted to new ways of working and innovated in how they operate during COVID-19 restrictions, while maintaining health and safety in the workplace.

It would be great to see people apply for a grant to share these innovations so the wider community can also benefit’.

The Augusta Zadow Award is just one way that SafeWork SA invests in future workplace safety across the state with a focus on doing safety differently said Mr Campbell.

Last year’s award recipients received $10,000 each.

Cassandra Deon-Wierda from the Working Women’s Centre is using the grant to develop training for hairdressers in regional towns to recognise and respond to domestic and family violence.

The second award recipient for 2019, Georgia Thain from Sex Industry Network Incorporated (SIN), is conducting research to help understand the specific health and safety requirements of the sex industry as it goes through proposed reforms.

Since 2005, SafeWork SA has granted nearly $300,000 to 29 proposals.

Applications close on Monday 17 August 2020.

Successful applicants will be announced at the start of October 2020 as acknowledgement of the start of National Safe Work Month.

More information is available at the SafeWork SA website, safework.sa.gov.au/aza