New team increases
safety, health
and wellbeing
In February, Officeworks introduced
a new cross-functional team with
the aim of increasing safety at work
for all team members.
The newly-formed National Stay
Safe and Wellbeing (NSSW) team is
made up of East Bentleigh Support
Office team members from key
functions across the business
with the goal to increase safety
awareness at work. The NSSW team
members are all functional leaders
who can drive the implementation
of the Health Safety and Wellbeing
(HSW) program.
The team will be working closely with
the Health, Safety and Wellbeing
plan which comprise three key
elements:
• manual handling
• slip, trip or fall
• struck by falling objects.
In addition to these physical aspects
of safety, the NSSW team is also
working to address the feedback
raised at the 2019 Half-Yearly
Leadership Update in February and
March around improved support for
mental wellbeing as well.
To achieve their goal, the team has
compiled a list of functions and
activities from supporting proactive
risk management to further safety
throughout the business and
build trust. The additional support
to health, safety and wellbeing
at work will help to resolve issues
quickly while increasing safety and
performance in all areas of our
vast organisation.
Left to right: Travis Brown, Susan Coombes, Chris White, Karen Adema, Alex Staley, Jim Berndelis,
Nick Barber, Terrie Seresli and Susan Robinson
Who is in the NSSW team?
• Jim Berndelis (National
Merchandise Manager)
• Nick Barber (Construction and
Delivery Manager)
• Tom Weinman (National Supply
Chain Operations Manager)
• David Hayes (Regional Manager)
• Karen Adema (National Loss
Prevention Manager)
• Merissa Hargreaves (IT Manager
Online)
• Alex Staley (National Corporate
Affairs and Brand Manager)
• Susan Coombes (National Health
Safety and Wellbeing Manager)
• Susan Robinson (National Safety
Wellbeing Senior Advisor)
• Terrie Seresli (National Health
and Safety Advisor)
• Chris White (Store Audit Manager)
• Travis Brown (CX Programme
Manager)
What does NSSW team do?
• Initiatives/projects on the top three risks from the HSW Plan (manual
handling, slip/trip/fall and struck by falling objects)
• Stay Safe system implementation (policy and procedure)
• Audit findings (may recommend changes to procedure or training
based on common themes)
• Implementation of critical risk controls
• Recognition (initiatives/good practice — Safety FIRST)
• Wellbeing initiatives.
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