Safety leaders recognised
St John of God Health Care has announced the winners of the 2018 Tony Howarth Awards for Leadership in Health and Safety, with caregivers at the Group’s Mt Lawley and Murdoch hospitals, and Group Supply Warehouse in Wendouree taking out the top awards.
1 Feb 2019
St John of God Health Care Group Chief Executive Officer Dr Shane Kelly congratulated all the winners and said all three were examples of great OHS leadership and the success of our Good to Great health and safety strategy.
“The Tony Howarth Awards are now in their second year and I am proud that we recognised excellence in health and safety at all levels of our organisation, in this manner,” he said.
“It is also pleasing to see that the positive change in our safety culture – both clinical and OHS – continues. The health and safety of our caregivers and patients is, as it should be, our number one priority.”
The awards, named after St John of God Health Care’s former long-serving Board Chair Tony Howarth and sponsored by Hesta, were first awarded in 2017 to recognise and showcase examples of great OHS leadership across the organisation.
Current St John of God Health Care Board Chair Hon Kerry Sanderson AC said safety was a priority for the organisation.
“To see the level of focus and examples of excellence in OHS, at all levels of our organisation, supports our core purpose to provide safe and exceptional patient care,” she said.
Category one: A solution to an identified OHS issue
Winner – St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital Patient Food Services Department for their team approach to identifying ways to put a stop to the worrying trend in safety incidents.
Category two: Most outstanding health and safety representative
Winner – Megan Silvey, St John of God Murdoch Hospital Endoscopy Department for not only finding an engaging way to better inform her peers and help create a safer working environment, but also for having the courage to speak up when she thought things were not being managed in accordance with the policy, resulting in changes to infrastructure in the department, to better manage patient care.
Category three: Best example of safety leadership
Winner – Mark Keating, St John of God Health Care Group Supply Wendouree for a range of initiatives to build a positive safety culture, which have resulted in there being no lost time injuries for the past two years in his department.