Health and Safety Month 2025 presenter profiles

Ashley West

Chief Executive Officer, WorkSafe Victoria

Ashley West is an experienced Executive with a strong history of transforming, motivating and leading teams in complex technical, business and stakeholder environments. Growing up in Northern Country Victoria, Ashley moved to Geelong studying IT Systems Engineering before heading to Melbourne to further his career with Telstra and working across a number of industries including Aviation and Banking.

In November 2015, Ashley was appointed as the Head of Information Technology Shared Solutions (CIO), a collaborative IT division between the Transport Accident Commission and WorkSafe Victoria. His team was responsible for the strategy and delivery of Information Technology services across the two key Victorian Government Social Insurance organisations.

In March 2020, Ashley was appointed as an Executive Director with WorkSafe Victoria. Between March 2020 – December 2020, Ashley was responsible for WorkSafe’s Operations (COO) where he had the executive responsibility for People and Culture, Information Technology, Risk Management, Facilities and Fleet, Continuous Improvement and the Program Management Office.

In January 2021, Ashley was appointed as the Executive Director, Strategic Delivery - a position primarily focused on the development of strategy and delivery of strategic change initiatives to meet WorkSafe’s purpose of reducing workplace harm and improving outcomes for injured workers. Ashley is responsible for approximately $150m worth of projects and a business unit comprising approximately 500 staff, which includes FTE, fixed term employees, contractors & vendors. Ashley currently has executive oversight of Claims & Recovery Strategy, Enterprise Delivery, Data and Analytics, WorkSafe Technology, Mental Health Strategy & Coordination, Business Performance and Strategy & Research.

Sam Jenkin

Chief Health and Safety Officer, WorkSafe Victoria

Sam Jenkin re-joined WorkSafe Victoria in June 2020 as Executive Director, External Affairs, and has lead its regulatory operations since June 2024, being appointed as WorkSafe’s inaugural Chief Health and Safety Officer in August 2025.

He has spent the majority of his public service career working with regulators in NSW and Victoria. He has worked for the workplace safety and workers compensation insurer in both states, having begun his career with the then WorkCover NSW in 2002 before joining WorkSafe Victoria in 2007. He has also worked for the consumer protection regulator in both states, having held senior positions with NSW Fair Trading and Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Sam holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Sydney and a Masters and PhD in Economic History from Lund University in Sweden. He lives in Geelong with his partner and four children.

Cameron Barber

Health and Safety Representative, Delcon Civil

Cameron has worked within the civil construction industry for over 20 years. For the last four years, Cameron has been a Health & Safety Representative for Delcon Civil. His career focus is often on developing and innovating safety processes within his organisation.

As a finalist for WorkSafe Awards 2024 Health & Safety, Representative of the Year category, Cameron’s focus has been on advocating for the safety of his colleagues. Cameron is skilled at onboarding new colleagues, providing industry specific OHS advice and support to his Designated Working Group.

Dr Tony Carden

Principal Ergonomist, WorkSafe Victoria

Tony is Principal Ergonomist, leading the Ergonomics and Human Factors Unit, at WorkSafe Victoria. Tony has a diverse range of experience across a wide array of industry sectors including housing construction, electricity distribution, property maintenance, security, outdoor education and adventure guiding.

Tony’s PhD is in Human Factors, specialising in the analysis, design and modification of complex systems of work. He is passionate about applying his specialty to safety, health, wellbeing and system performance. Tony’s current work centres on supporting the learning and application of systems thinking across WorkSafe and our partner organisations.

Pia Cerveri

Healthcare and Social Assistance (HCSA) Program Manager, WorkSafe Victoria

Pia Cerveri is a social worker with a background in the statutory, community, and local government sectors. She has led significant work on gendered violence in the workplace, including developing campaigns and training at the Victorian Trades Hall Council. Pia is now the Program Manager of the Healthcare and Social Assistance Team at WorkSafe Victoria, where she focuses on improving health and safety outcomes—particularly in preventing gendered violence and other psychosocial hazards. She’s passionate about creating safer, fairer workplaces for all.

Tony Cockerell

Manager, Construction Operations, WorkSafe Victoria

Tony has been at WorkSafe since 2000, prior to Worksafe, Tony mainly worked on heavy engineering construction projects at Major hazard facilities and off shore oil rigs. Tony worked as a crane operator & rigger/scaffolder in the construction industry. In his time at WorkSafe, Tony has enjoyed the roles of construction inspector, senior inspector, team leader and his current role as Manager Construction operations. As part of his many roles he has worked on developing industry guidance and strategic interventions to reduce workplace harm.

Nicole Evans

Senior Inspector, WorkSafe Victoria

Nicole is a former qualified Occupational Therapist who worked across various safety and return-to-work roles before joining WorkSafe Victoria. Since then, she has held positions as a Return-to-Work Inspector, Psychosocial Inspector, and now works as a Senior Inspector within the Integrated Health Team.

Nicole is passionate about building strong relationships and supporting safe, healthy workplaces.

Bronwyn Haste

Senior Occupational Hygienist, WorkSafe Victoria

Bronwyn Haste is a Senior Occupational Hygienist in WorkSafe Victoria’s Occupational Hygiene unit. Her role covers a broad range of activities including providing specialist advice to WorkSafe health and safety inspectors, developing occupational health and safety guidance, authorising asbestos and carcinogen licences and following up on workplaces with elevated blood lead levels.

Sarah Hellwege

Director, Principal Psychologist at Psychgroup, Training & Advisory

Sarah is a Registered Psychologist and the Founder and Director of Psychgroup Training & Advisory, a specialist consultancy dedicated to advancing psychological health and safety in the workplace. With over 15 years’ experience spanning Organisational Psychology, Occupational Health and Safety, and regulatory enforcement including her tenure at WorkSafe Victoria, Sarah brings deep expertise in partnering with organisations to assess psychosocial risk and embed psychologically safe practices. Through Psychgroup, she delivers tailored, scalable solutions that support compliance while driving meaningful, lasting impact across diverse sectors.

Sarah brings deep expertise in end-to-end psychosocial risk management, having designed and delivered bespoke programs on job re-design, cumulative trauma, suicide risk, and escalation processes. She is highly experienced in equipping staff to implement these frameworks in practical, accessible ways, and is passionate about translating complex psychological health concepts into clear, relatable messages. Her work is grounded in the belief that psychologically safe workplaces are not only achievable but essential.

Christopher Hill

Process Safety Analyst, WorkSafe Victoria

Christopher is currently a Process Safety Analyst with the Chemical Safety Outreach and Land Use Planning Team at WorkSafe Victoria. His current role includes: assessing Major Hazard Facility safety cases for compliance with the OHS Regulations 2017, Regulatory Oversight of some Major Hazard Facilities and providing technical Subject Matter Expert support for Land Use Planning applications.

His education includes an Engineering Honours degree in Chemical Engineering and Applied Sciences Bachelors degree in Chemistry. Christopher has had roles in R&D, Project engineering, Risk Consulting and Operations in addition to his experience at WorkSafe.

Dr Bruce Hocking

Independent Medical Examiner

Dr Bruce Hocking is a graduate of Melbourne medical school. He has been active in occupational medicine for over 50 years. He was a founding Fellow of the original College, later Faculty (AFOEM) and was President 1994 – 95. He has helped draft several national medical standards for safety critical workers including Assessing Fitness to Drive and the National Health Assessments for Rail Workers. He was a member of the Radiation Health Committee of ARPANSA for six years. He has been a guest lecturer at Monash University for 30 years. He was awarded a Sands Medal of RACP in 2001.

He is currently active as a consultant and is an Independent Medical Examiner for WorkSafe Victoria. He is a strong advocate for worksite visits in appropriate cases.