Nine Condamine businesses joined in an MDH Pty Ltd health and safety workplace day at Nangram, Condamine last Saturday, run in conjunction with Worksafe Queensland to celebrate Safe Work Month.
Along with Western Downs Regional Council deputy mayor, Andrew Smith, the Worksafe ambassador Shane Webke and Cody Grealy from Miles were guest speakers
According to Kristen Coggan, some exciting concepts and ideas regarding the importance of workplace health and safety were shared, as well as tips on how they could be integrated into the everyday life of their businesses.
Andrew Smith opened proceedings, speaking about the importance of workplace health and safety within the council and also on his own property at home.
Kristen, who is a workplace health and safety officer for MDH, spoke about integrating safety as a priority within their business and some of the newer concepts they have come up with to navigate their way around safe work practices.
She then introduced Cody Grealy, who suffered a workplace accident almost four years ago at the age of 22.
The accident has left him with an acquired brain injury and four years after his accident Cody is still trying to walk independently.
Cody stressed to the crowd the importance of safety in the workplace and always wearing a helmet when horse riding no matter how confident you think you are.
“No-one could have said it better,” Kristen said.
Shane Webcke had the crowd enthralled for around an hour, speaking of his own family experience and heartache concerning safety in the workplace from a rural setting.
Shane started his speech by telling the story of the death of his own father 22 years ago in a workplace accident.
He spoke of how that has affected his family for 22 years, and the ongoing impact of living their lives without him.
He also spoke at length of how it has taken him the death of his father, several near misses himself and 22 years to really understand the concept of working safely no matter what it is that he was doing.
“He asked people to consider the ripple effect of you having an accident on your family and community,” Kristen said. “He spoke of the importance of not being complacent, and being disciplined enough to play it safe.
“There were many positive comments afterwards and it was evident that Shane's story really impacted on people listening, both young and old.”
Kristen said MDH was grateful to both Shane Webcke and Work Safe Queensland for making the event possible.
“To have a resource so relevant the agriculture industry is an invaluable asset, the power of which cannot be under estimated.
“They would also like to thank Cody Grealy and his family for sharing their own personal story.”
