South Australian businesses came up with a host of innovative ways to make safety training more interesting during National Safe Work month
A safety Olympics, a training day with the local CFS and a safety scavenger hunt are among the creative initiatives awarded as part of the SafeWork SA National Safe Work month competition.
SafeWork SA again ran its popular ‘Organise Your Own Workplace Activity’ competition this year, with the theme of ‘Safety is Everyone’s Business’ and a weekly focus on different health and safety areas including injuries at work, mental health and managing work health and safety risks.
The annual workplace competition challenged business to organise activities to showcase their commitment to health and safety in the workplace.
This year’s winners were from small and large businesses in metropolitan and regional areas.
1st Prize Large business – Lutheran Disability Head Office
Lutheran Disability Head office hosted a SafeTea morning tea, where they conducted a Mini Safety Olympics with the team. There was a relay of manual handling box lifting and avoiding hazards and problem solving. They also tested staff on policy and procedures including fire wardens, evacuation points and fire extinguishers and blanket locations.
1st Prize Small business – Clean Seas Seafood Kingfish Hatchery
The Clean Seas Seafood Kingfish Hatchery is located on the outskirts of Arno Bay, a town on Eyre Peninsula. Coming into fire season, they collaborated with the local CFS unit to have a training day involving the new CFS cadets.
Activities included testing fire hydrants and pressurising the hydrant pipes, familiarising the CFS crew with locations of fire tanks and where to fill up their trucks on site, and identifying any gaps in equipment needed. They have committed to keeping in contact with the local CFS crew to help facilitate future training days.
2nd Prize Large business – Adelaide Oval
During National Safe Work Month, Adelaide Oval collaborated with AFL personality Brian ‘BT’ Taylor to produce an engaging video series to be used for staff training.
In his roaming style, BT interacted with staff while covering essential WHS topics. To further promote safety, weekly challenges were organised around different WHS themes, with prizes for winners.
In Week 1, employees participated in a scavenger hunt that included safety challenges, such as logging hazards in the appropriate manner. Week 2 focused on psychosocial hazards, encouraging tasks to support mental health, along with the opening of a sensory room. Week 3 emphasised risk management through workspace safety inspections. Finally, Week 4 encouraged physical movement to prevent musculoskeletal injuries, with staff sharing activity photos internally. These initiatives reinforced the message that ‘Safety is everyone’s business’.
2nd Prize Small business – Vinnies
Vinnies at Murray Bridge organised a trivia competition with health and safety themed questions for their staff. They also hosted a morning tea with safety themed cupcakes and cookies, while encouraging staff to wear fluoro safety colours for the day.
3rd Prize Large business – RAA Home and Energy
The RAA organised a series of staff activities where they matched injuries to potential hazards specific to incident across their warehouse, offices and remote working space operations.
At their regular toolbox talks and office meetings, the teams discussed the incidents and handed out prizes for correct answers. They also recognised top performers in hazard identification from the previous quarter, resulting in a fun way to reinforce one of their key performance indicators – boosting harm vs. no-harm reporting. To wrap up, the RAA leadership team participated in a Safe Tea Catch Up, celebrating safety achievements and reaffirming their commitment to a safer workplace.
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