Safety first at Presbyterian

New South Wales aged care provider Presbyterian Aged Care (PAC) understands the importance of the health and safety of its workers.

Maintenance officer at Presbyterian Aged Care Wollongong, Peer Lehwess, was recently awarded as the winner of Best Individual Contribution to Workplace Health and Safety at the 2011 SafeWork Awards.

The safe-handling and transport of waste bags through the aged care home to an external skip was one of Mr Lehwess’ main accomplishments. He was first employed to address a “vexing” work health and safety issue to which no external solution had previously been found.

Mr Lehwess was acknowledged for his work in designing a new waste chute from the first storey bins on the ground, eliminating the infection control risks and implementing strategies to reduce waste management costs at the facility.

Presbyterian Aged Care NSW & ACT chief executive, Paul Sadler, said Mr Lehwess’ achievement had brought improvements at the facility.

“We have worked hard across the organisation to improve our workplace safety and support programs for staff who are injured,” Mr Sadler said. “Pleasingly, we have seen this reflected in significant reductions in our workers’ compensation premiums, and are now well below the average for the aged care industry.

“Mr Peer’s achievement is all the more satisfying as WorkCover NSW received its highest ever number of nominations for the 2011 SafeWork Awards, from a broad range of industries in the public, not-for-profit and private sectors. PAC was the only finalist from the aged care industry,” Mr Sadler added.

The SafeWork award follows the recent announcement of a 2011 Better Practice Award for Resident Lifestyle from the Aged Care Standards & Accreditation Agency for PAC Wollongong Wheelchair Walks Volunteers, which is a weekly wheelchair walking program that has been running for 13 years.

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