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Children, cadavers and chemicals may not seem related but they all have associated risks. These risks, and the policies and practices in place at UWA to deal with them, were some of the reasons behind the awarding of the annual UWA Safety Awards.The Individual Safety Award was won by Olivia Harper , Director of the Early Learning Centre, part of UWA Child Care Services .

The School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology was awarded the Group Safety Award.

Professor Melinda Hodkiewicz from the School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering took out the Safety Leadership Award.

And the Safety Recognition Award went to Michael Smirk in the School of Earth and Environment .

Introducing the 14th annual awards, the Chair of the University Safety Committee, Professor Allan McKinley , said typically nominees preferred to simply get on with the job and did not seek to bring attention to themselves.

“However their efforts make a real difference to the safety, health and wellbeing of others,” he said. “They are always good role models and they contribute greatly to an actively caring workplace culture.

“These awards acknowledge, share and celebrate their efforts.”

Olivia Harper was involved in the design and creation of the new UWA Early Learning Centre on the Nedlands campus and initiated and developed health and safety-related systems during and after construction of the building.

She has arranged exercise rehabilitation for child care staff, recognising the risks and creating management plans for the manual handling tasks that are part of caring for and working with children.

The children’s health and safety is also a priority with child protection, anaphylaxis, asthma management and first aid training courses for staff.

The Group Safety Award in the recently-amalgamated Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology acknowledged many people from the Head of School, Professor Linc Schmitt , to staff and student safety representatives.

An active School Safety Committee set significant targets for 2012 in areas of chemical safety, radiation safety and electrical compliance.

Redundant equipment and unwanted and hazardous chemicals were disposed of, with more than $35,000 being spent on chemical disposal.

The School is currently reviewing the handling of cadavers, used by medical students, looking at new lifting implements and racking systems to help eliminate injuries from the manual handling. Air monitoring for formaldehyde was also done in the mortuary dissection rooms over many months and is ongoing, to ensure the health of students and staff.

Significant changes in Mechanical and Chemical Engineering over the past two years depleted the School’s safety committee at a time when new directions in research made safety issues paramount.

Professor Hodkiewicz took on the role of Chair of the committee in July 2010 and has been proactive in developing new safety management policies, procedures and guidelines.

Activities in the School embrace areas such as fuels and alternative energy, gas processing and CO2 sequestration, nanomaterials, laser technologies, biological materials and chemical engineering. New directions have created a more complex and challenging health and safety situation than exist in a traditional School of Mechanical Engineering.

Professor Hodkiewicz has excelled in overseeing new health and safety procedures and in instilling a new culture of safety awareness in the School, winning for her the Safety Leadership Award.

Hazardous chemicals were also of concern to Michael Smirk, the winner of the Safety Recognition Award.

As a safety and health representative, Mr Smirk has taken the front foot in identifying hazardous procedures and reviewing control measures. He has introduced safety files for individual research groups in the soil science discipline. These have become a significant safety resource and reference for laboratory users and managers, with valuable information such as the latest codes on chemical labelling requirements and advice on chemical disposal.

As a senior research officer in Earth and Environment, Mr Smirk has extensive laboratory experience, often requiring the safe handling of corrosive and hazardous chemicals, which made him the perfect person to take on responsibility for the safety of the School.

Other finalists in the awards, Alexis Baratsas (Human Resources manager at the University Club), Alan Luks (School Manager, Plant Biology) and Carmel McLeod (Senior Technician, Biomedical Research Facility) were awarded certificates to recognise their contributions.

The winners received book vouchers from the University Co-Operative Bookshop.

Published in UWA News , 12 November 2012