Holroyd City Council has taken out a national award for its safety system in the 2006 National Awards for Local Government. Abbreviated to Holsafe, Holroyd’s Safety System of Innovation won the Local Government Leadership for Injury Prevention and Management Category.
Holroyd’s General Manager, Dennis Trezise, said Council’s distinction shows it is among Local Government leaders in workplace safety. With Council also highly commended for Enhancing Women’s Participation, he said it was a significant achievement to be acknowledged in two of the 18 categories.
“It demonstrates solid strategic work and investment of our staff, in our staff and for our community,” he said.
Holsafe is a ‘home grown’ project based on the Australian Standard AS/NZS 4804 2001. The program was initiated in 2004 following a safety audit conducted the previous year.
Council created teams within its safety committee to allow many programs and policies to be developed and reviewed simultaneously over 12 months. It included an organisational wide safety audit, assessment of Holroyd City’s safety culture and a regular safety bulletin to staff. The teams also marketed a safety logo and slogan, ‘Be Safe – Work Safe’, to draw staff’s attention to the Holsafe program overall.
A safety week was introduced in 2005, followed by a safety month in 2006. Council also implemented a Holsafe heroes program to highlight the good work performed by staff and to give recognition.
These changes have meant Council’s insurance premiums shrank by 41.6 per cent between 2003-2004 and 2004-2005. In dollar terms, premiums were slashed from $1.2 million to just $0.5 million, with time lost injuries also decreasing.
“The Holsafe system is working well in managing safety for our organisation,” Dennis Trezise said.
For further information, contact Margaret Paton, Holroyd’s Manager Media Relations, on (02) 9840 9717.
