Juniper has received Western Australia’s premier award for occupational health and safety in the workplace. Juniper is a Uniting Church WA agency providing residential and community aged care.
Receiving Worksafe WA’s award for Best Workplace Safety and Health Management System, Vaughan Harding, Juniper’s chief executive, said a strong culture of safety backed by comprehensive training and management systems ensured employees are equipped to do their jobs safely.
“Juniper prides its self on having an excellent safety culture and actively encourages continuous improvement and safety awareness,” he said.
Since 2010 the Juniper workforce has increased by 20 per cent to more than 1,600 employees, and significantly, workers compensation claims and serious injury reports had steadily decreased each year.
Vaughan said as Juniper responded to growing community demand for aged care and support services, the organisation has established new services and facilities across the State while maintaining and improving systems that support the safety and wellbeing of employees, residents and clients.
“Juniper fully understands the challenges associated with an ageing workforce and has initiated a range of strategies that have made a positive impact on the reduction in injuries across the organisation,” he said.
“Consultation has been key to our success – we have involved our people at all levels to successfully manage hazards and risks and I thank all our health and safety representatives and our many site teams for their efforts.”
Juniper has implemented and maintains a broad range occupational health and safety initiatives, systems and educational programs across the organisation which serves more than 4,000 older people in one of the largest geographical areas in Australia, stretching from Wyndham in the Kimberley to Albany in the Great Southern.
“Our continuous focus of improving awareness and building a robust safety culture has been incorporated into roles, responsibilities and accountabilities at all positional levels and good planning is an essential component to success,” Vaughan said.
In 2015, the State Government awarded its highest accolade for workplace safety and practices, conferring its WorkSafe Plan Platinum Certificate of Achievement for a period of two years.
Juniper’s efforts to maximise workforce potential as well as work to attract, train and retain skilled employees was recognised when it won the aged care sector’s Employer of Choice Award in 2015. Its employee-focused leadership, development programs and efforts to promote a positive workplace culture were standouts.
The Department of Commerce’s 2016 Work Safety Awards WA recognise outstanding occupational safety and health management, solutions and innovation in workplaces and were presented at the UWA Club.
For more information about career and volunteering opportunities at Juniper, visit juniper.org.au.
Top image: Glenda McMurtrie, occupational safety and health manager at Juniper, accepts the finalist certificate and winner’s trophy from Tony Krsticevic, parliamentary secretary to the minister for Commerce.