Social assistance
Your partner is safer care
Wendy Shanks
Wendy Shanks, CEO of Shepparton Access, a disability service provider. Wendy reached out to the OHS Essentials Program to help prevent manual handling and mental health injuries in her workplace. Hear about Wendy's experience.
Building a safer workplace
For over 70 years, Give Where You Live has been helping people in crisis across the Geelong region. With 18 staff members working in many different places, they often face challenging situations where safety needs to be a top priority.
Recently, the team took over a seven-acre farm at Leopold, Geelong. None of the staff had experience working in agriculture or dealing with farm-related safety risks. They didn’t know where to begin until someone suggested the free OHS Essentials Program. They signed up straight away.
When Sarah Martin, safety professional from the program visited, she helped them identify key risks - like a machinery shed and wood-working area that could cause harm. She also guided them on how to use equipment safely.
Sarah created a clear safety action plan that broke the work into high, medium, and low-priority tasks. This made it easy for the team to understand what needed to be done first. A follow-up visit helped check their progress and gave them confidence they were on the right track.
One of the biggest benefits for the team at Give Where You Live was learning how to spot risks and fix them before anyone got hurt. With Sarah’s help, the team set up a safety committee to keep improving their workplace safety over time. They even used the same safety methods in another location because it worked so well.
The program didn’t just benefit the team, it also helped their clients. Through the program, Give Where You Live ensured a safer future for everyone involved.
Helping Making Childcare Workplaces Safer
Wendy Clulow has always loved working in childcare. She worked at Knaith Road Childcare Centre for eight years, caring for children and making sure they received the best care possible. But she also knew that keeping both children and staff safe was a big responsibility.
With 50 children and around 20-30 staff, Wendy understood that workplace safety was more than just ticking boxes - it was the key to running the center well. After 26 years of teaching in Queensland, she was used to structured environments, but being a Health and Safety Representative (HSR) was new for her. She wanted to be proactive, not just respond to problems after they happened.
One day, Wendy received an email about the OHS Essentials Program. The idea of getting free expert safety advice sounded too good to pass up. Because manual handling and workplace safety were her main concerns, she signed up.
Not long after, a safety expert named Gloria Morosinotto visited the centre. Wendy wasn’t sure what to expect, but she was keen to learn. Gloria observed how the centre operated and pointed out what was working well and what could be improved. After the first visit, Gloria created a safety action plan to guide the next steps.
Gloria also ran manual handling training for staff, showing them how to safely lift, move, and care for children without injuring themselves. This made a big difference. It wasn’t just about fixing problems, it helped staff feel more confident and knowledgeable.
Wendy was especially impressed by Gloria’s strong knowledge of safety laws and requirements. As Wendy was new to OHS, having everything explained in a clear and practical way made it much easier to understand.
By the end of the program, Wendy felt confident and reassured. The centre had already been on the right path, but now they had the knowledge and confidence to make safety part of their everyday work. It helped them clearly see where they were and where they needed to improve.
The OHS Essentials Program didn’t just improve safety at Knaith Road Childcare Centre - it changed how people thought about safety. It became part of their workplace culture, not just a rule to follow.
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