2025 WorkSafe Awards winners announced

OHS Leadership/Achievement

Healesville – Koo Wee Rup Road Project – Seymour Whyte Constructions

Civil construction company Seymour Whyte led the Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road upgrade, a major infrastructure project which saw 2,100 machines on site and 600,000 tonnes of material moved. Seymour Whyte demonstrated its commitment to the health and safety of its workforce by challenging traditional approaches and implementing bespoke solutions to redefine safety in infrastructure.

Excellence in Preventing and Managing Psychosocial Risk

Manor Lakes Community Learning Centre

An increase in the number of young people displaying aggressive and harmful behaviours when attending the Manor Lakes Community Learning Centre (MLCLC) led the team to undertake extensive consultation to understand the hazards impacting its workforce. As a result, MLCLC developed a suite of actions and tools to shift the focus from managing psychosocial risk from a reactive approach to a proactive one.

Farm Safety Solution

Warakirri Cropping

Warakirri Cropping designed and delivered a tailored and proactive intervention to reduce the risk of psychological harm to its remote and isolated workers. Through data review and genuine consultation, Warakirri Cropping were able to establish trust, to drive engagement with the on-site psychology service model.

Leading Return to Work Practice

Royal Melbourne Hospital

The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) has undergone significant transformation in its approach to return to work practices, cultivating a supportive and proactive environment for injured workers. As part of this, RMH redefined the roles within its Injury Management Team to reflect a partnership model reinforcing a collaborative approach between injured workers and their managers.

Worker Return to Work Achievement

Maree McLean – St Mary's Primary School Swan Hill

After 35 years working at St Mary’s Primary School, Swan Hill, Maree sustained a mental injury and was initially unable to get out of bed. Maree accessed psychological treatment and with the support of her employer and self-determination, she returned to full-time work after 12 months. Maree says “there shouldn’t be a stigma attached to these things. It’s okay that I wasn’t okay.”

Dennis Gabriel – Yarrawonga Riverlands Tourist Park

Dennis fell through a laserlite roof, sustaining multiple physical injuries that almost cost him his life. Returning to work meant much more than just having a job, it meant returning to normal life, a sense of routine, identity and purpose. Dennis describes his recovery as a team effort where everyone from his employer and family to his treating physicians supported his return to work after just six weeks.

Workplace Health and Safety Solution of the Year

Tree Coach – Natural Growth Partners

Tree Coach reduces the risk of manual handling and repetitive strains on site installations of trees by eliminating the need for stake ramming and heavy lifting. Once Tree Coach is installed in the ground with the tree and excavation is backfilled, the surrounding compacted earth holds Tree Coach in place, and the tree is tied to Tree Coach stakes for support.

Health and Safety Representative of the Year

Manny Mason – City of Ballarat

Manny maintains an unwavering dedication to justice, safety, and dignity in the workplace. Most recently, Manny demonstrated his ability to combine empathy with assertive advocacy to ensure a vulnerable worker was protected and supported through a traumatic experience. He held the employer accountable to their legal obligations and advocated for the worker’s safe return to work. Manny’s actions set a precedent for how such matters should be handled across the organisation.