This year’s theme, safety: every job, every day, encourages all workplaces – regardless of occupation, industry, location, and size – to prioritise safety in their job every day.
Safety: every job, every day, means proactively managing WHS risks protecting your workers. It’s not just best practice – it’s legally required under WHS laws.
National Safe Work Month is the perfect time to take action and consider how you can prioritise safety in your job every day. Set aside some time in October to focus on WHS.
Everyone has a role to make their workplace safe.
- If you’re an employer, talk to your staff about WHS, review risks from physical and psychosocial hazards in your work. This goes for sole traders and contractors too.
- If you’re a worker, talk to your WHS officer, health and safety representative, or manager about how your workplace can become a safer place to work.
- If you’re a health and safety representative (HSR), connect with workers and your employer to keep safety a top priority.
- If you’re an industry organisation or union, share tailored advice based on your industry.
Safety in Action at NextGen Skills
Stephen Delaney, Painting Trainer at NextGen Skills, gets his students to do a Hazard Inspection Checklist as part of their WHS Unit. Stephen finds that the students often pick up on potential hazards that may have easily been missed. For example, today, one of his astute students reported that the emergency eye wash had just expired, which he was able to rectify by replacing immediately.
Domenic Mattarocchia, Plumbing Trainer at NextGen Skills, emphasises that safety is a part of the plumbing training from Day 1. “We give them information about how dangerous a worksite can be, because we want safety to be “automatic” when they get to the practical side of their training. They do not start any practical assessments until the WHS theory training is completed, so that they have a full understanding of safe work practices including putting on all their safety PPE before they go out in the workshop every day.”
National Safe Work Month is for everyone!
At NextGen Skills, we offer a unique Group Training model, where we employ plumbing and painting apprentices and place them with host employers to gain practical, hands-on industry experience. This approach supports apprentices earn a wage while working toward a Nationally Recognised Qualification, and it offers businesses flexible and reliable workforce solutions.
We ensure that our students have all the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) required for their role. Our programs empasise the importance of WHS, with training and support paperwork a key focus in our programs. We also provide our apprentices with pastoral support, mentorship and guidance.
Host Safety Assessments (HSA)
All of our host employers complete a thorough Host Safety Assessment (HSA) to ensure they meet current safety standards before we consider placing an apprentice with them for on-the-job training. Our extensive network of host employers allows us to match apprentices based on their preferences, skills, and location, providing opportunities across commercial, residential, and industrial sectors.
Our Ongoing Commitment to Safe Work
NextGen Skills is committed to upholding the highest safety standards every day, both during training and at the worksite. We are dedicated to nurturing skilled, confident tradespeople and we aim to build a sustainable future for Western Australia’s construction industry while delivering value to both apprentices and employers.
Join Us in Building a Safer, Skilled Future
Want to know more about our safe apprenticeship programs or how we ensure WHS compliance?
Contact NextGen Skills today to learn more about our plumbing and painting apprenticeships that put safety first.