People look for apprenticeships in Queensland across a range of different industries. However, there are a number of things that unite people no matter what kind of role they are looking for.
For an apprenticeship opportunity to be desirable, people will consider elements such as pay, the potential for them to further advance their skill set and how safe the individual organisation or wider industry is. Thankfully, a recent announcement from the Queensland government revealed that businesses across the state are greatly improving their safety capabilities, a fact that was recognised by the 2016 Safe Work and Return to Work Awards.
What does it take to win an award for safety in the workplace?
The health and safety landscape is changing across Australia as leaders and employees realise that simply following processes is not enough to ensure everyone goes home safe. This year’s Safe Work and Return to Work Awards reinforced this new way of thinking, with the awards acknowledging proactive behaviour and the role leadership plays in creating a strong safety culture.
Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations Grace Grace noted that the 40 finalists – split across 13 different categories – are those that are not only good at spotting concerns, but fixing them as well.
“These companies are investing in the well-being of their employees, settling for nothing less than maximum safety,” she explained.”And if an injury does occur, they have good processes in place to get that worker back on deck as soon as safely possible.”
Some of the award categories that reflect the changing view of safety in the workplace include:
- Best solution to an identified work health and safety issue
- Most significant improvement to work health and safety performance
- Best demonstrated leadership in work health and safety
- Demonstrated leadership in rehabilitation and return to work
Bringing industries together under a common goal
These awards are about more than just rewarding businesses and their employees, they also bring people from various industries together, meaning they can learn from each other and create safer working environments across the state.
However, there are also industry-specific support networks so businesses with unique safety concerns can find answers from their peers. Recently, the Queensland government promoted transport and manufacturing networks as an example of how these groups can make workplaces safer, ideally creating more welcoming spaces for new apprentices and trainees as well.
