Hundreds of business people and community leaders gathered at a gala event on 18 March at Wests, New Lambton for the announcement of the winners of the inaugural Hunter Safety Awards.

 

The ‘gold’ safety helmet, sponsored by Blackwoods, was awarded to Port Hunter Conveyors, as the WHS Business of the Year.

The judges said that across the board the approach of Port Hunter Conveyors to work health and safety is impressive. “Over the years Port Hunter Conveyors has demonstrated the ability to set goals and achieve targets. Their prime objective is the provision of a superior and sustained level of service that exceeds industry standards and customers’ expectations,” Founder of the Hunter Safety Awards, Sarah‐Jane Dunford, said. “There have been quantitative outputs from the focus on WHS by Port Hunter Conveyors, including an approximate 60% reduction in Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate and 40% reduction in Medical Treatment Injury Frequency Rate and at the time of their award application they were LTI fres for 2015.”

 

Young WHS Leader of the Year, sponsored by Lifestyle Cleaning Services, was revealed to be Port Hunter Conveyors’ Health, Safety, Environment and Quality Coordinator, Jared Dwyer.

Jared was a driving force behind the improvements that the organisation has made over the last four years.

The WHS Champion of the Year, sponsored by WHS Systems, was presented to James Wood. James was a diesel mechanic on a mine site in the Hunter Valley, on a simple job that he had done many times before he made some wrong choices and ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.