Central Safety Group Melbourne

June 2024

How storytelling connects to safety

Presentation by: James Wood , Director, CNB Safe

CSG event video now available (members only)

James Wood (‘Woody’) had a job he loved and a great future as a diesel mechanic on mine sites. That was lost in a split second with an accident that left him in a wheelchair. Now he works hard to keep others safe.

On 11 June Woody shared with CSG his special insights and experience on how to get the safety message across from the workshop floor to the Board room.

This knowledge comes from visiting countless work sites, companies, and organisations, talking to them about the real impact of workplace injury.

The copyright holder has granted permission for propriety content to be shown in this presentation.

The presenter:

James Wood is an internationally recognised award-winning safety speaker and author. He has travelled the country for the past 25 years, educating workers, management teams and employers with his special message about safety, drawing on his experience as a workplace accident victim. He has a popular “Woody’s words” short weekly video (https://cnbsafe.com.au/woodys-words/). He has also written a book "It Fkn Hurts – 12 reasons not to get hurt at work".

April 2024

A visual approach to inductions

Presentation by: Troy Winn, WHS Manager, Simonds Group

CSG event video now available (members only)
Presentation package now available (members only)

How do you move safety induction online yet keep it alive? Troy Winn spoke about how he met that challenge in a presentation on Tuesday, 9 April.

Troy, who is WHS Manager for the Simonds Group, recently completed a Masters in Ergonomics, Safety and Health at La Trobe University in Melbourne. His presentation was based on research he did in the Advanced Practice Stream as part of his postgraduate degree. 

Working in the construction industry, Troy and his safety team were often investing several hours a week delivering safety inductions to site supervisors before they commenced a job. A high turnover of people and projects on sites made this a demanding commitment.

Troy spoke about a project to move this training online, where his role was to produce videos. He outlined the thinking and planning behind it, as well as the particular role of videos in making the induction more engaging and effective.  

His presentation included some of his safety induction videos, along with discussion about the various ideas, steps and lessons that went into making them.

The presenter:

Troy Winn has been WHS Manager for the Simonds Group since 2022. Prior to that he held national safety management roles in a number of construction companies. He spent several years as State OHS Advisor for the Housing Industry Association. Troy has also worked in the mental health, allied health, child care and aged care sectors. His experience includes roles in safety, wellbeing, workers compensation and risk management with organisations including Mind Australia, Blue Cross Aged Care and EACH healthcare services. Troy completed his Masters in Ergonomics, Safety and Health at La Trobe University in October 2023.

February 2024

OHS Job Market Analysis

Presentation by: Helen O’Keefe, Director, HOK Talent Solutions

Presentation package now available (members only)

Those interested in what’s happening in the current OHS job scene, either as a job seeker or employer, appreciated this presentation by Helen O’Keefe on 13 February 2024.

Helen is the Managing Director of HOK Talent Solutions, exclusively specialising in health and safety recruitment. She shared her insights about the OHS job scene from 2023, and talked through some of the challenges and opportunities she predicts will emerge for both hiring managers and job-seekers the year ahead.

Helen also shared data her company has collected, which details the number of OHS jobs advertised across SEEK and LinkedIn (the two most popular job boards) in 2023, and how that compares to 2022. This data is cross-checked against reports released from the ABS, SEEK and other sources to understand the “why” behind it.

Helens’ presentation included questions and discussion.

The presenter:

Helen O’Keefe is the founder of HOK Talent Solutions, which specialises in national HSE recruitment. Helen has a passion for the health and safety industry, and had been working in recruitment for this sector before founding her own agency in 2015. Prior to this, her background includes working as National Recruitment Manager for the Australian Red Cross, and as an HR consultant with pharmaceutical company GSK.

October 2023

Changing OHS culture in construction

Presentation by: Professor Helen Lingard, Director, Construction Work Health and Safety Research, RMIT University

Presentation package now available (members only)

In the past the construction industry has been known for being resistant to improvements affecting worker safety and wellbeing. However, the situation is now changing, according to Professor Helen Lingard, a leading expert in construction safety, whose research over the years has been widely translated into improved work health and safety policy and practice in the construction industry.

This was the topic of Professor Lingard’s lunchtime presentation to Central Safety Group on Tuesday 10 October. Helen discussed some of the main health and safety issues affecting workers in the construction industry, and changes in practices and culture that are now making a difference. This included some of her work on the effect of long and non-standard work hours on workers' health and wellbeing.

Her presentation was followed by questions and discussion.

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The presenter:

Helen Lingard is a Distinguished Professor of Construction Management in the School of Property, Construction and Project Management at RMIT University, Melbourne. She has a PhD in construction safety, and has been with RMIT for 15 years. Having started her career working for a contracting organisation in the civil engineering sector, Helen has undertaken extensive applied research in the areas of workplace safety and workers’ health and wellbeing in the construction industry. Helen has also provided consulting services in the infrastructure, telecommunications and mining sectors. Helen has authored or co-authored numerous papers and books. Her most recent book is "Work, Health and Wellbeing in the Construction Industry", with co-author Michelle Turner, which was published in May 2023.

July 2023

Facing a rise in customer aggression

Presentation by: Amy Lynes, Senior Workplace Relations Consultant, National Retail Association

Presentation package now available (members only)

Retail workers are currently confronted by a trend of rising bad behaviour from customers, manifest as frustration, anti-social behaviour and aggression, which is affecting employees’ workplace safety and wellbeing.

This issue was discussed in a presentation on 11 July by Amy Lynes, Senior Workplace Relations Consultant with the National Retail Association (NRA). She spoke about the impact of customer aggression on frontline retail employees, both in large retailers and small local businesses.

The industry is focused on how to manage this trend, alongside other workplace health and safety obligations, including controlling psychosocial risks and proactively preventing sexual harassment, to keep their employees safe and properly supported.

Amy said the NRA has seen a huge increase in demand from their members for training courses on dealing with aggressive customers, as well as members accessing their guides on topics such as preventing workplace sexual harassment.

Her presentation was followed by questions and discussion.

To view the video, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The presenter:

Amy Lynes joined the National Retail Association (NRA) in 2022, where she is a Senior Workplace Relations Consultant. NRA is a not-for-profit peak industry body that represents the interests of over 40,000 shop fronts across Australia. Prior to that Amy, who has a law degree, led a Human Resources team for over a decade with a national retail and manufacturing business. This included overseeing areas such as learning and development, industrial relations and work health and safety.