Best Individual Contribution to Workplace Health and Safety (WHS manager) winner
Glenn Stewart, Work Health and Safety Manager for Calvary Healthcare, is another proud 2017 award winner.
Glenn joined Calvary, a non-for-profit health organisation, in 2011. With more than 12,000 staff and volunteers, Calvary operates 15 public and private hospitals, 15 retirement and aged care facilities, and a national network of community care centres.
No sooner had he joined Calvary, Glenn set out to develop a group workplace health and safety strategy from the ground up – there was no safety system in place. A significant challenge was the geographical spread of the organisation, so he developed an intranet site that provided a single platform for all health and safety resources. He introduced online forums and discussion boards, audit tools, fact sheets, procedures and manuals.
Glenn also implemented a national safety excellence award program that recognised individuals and teams, a monthly safety scorecard, and a national management review process. He was particularly conscious of the need to engage with workers, health and safety representatives, committees and senior management.
Glenn’s initiatives have been a catalyst for other system and technological changes throughout the organisation. These same initiatives have also resulted in the frequency rate of lost time injuries falling from 60 to three since 2011.