Eight winners were honoured across seven award categories for their commitment to improve workplace health and safety or remarkable determination to return to work following an injury.
This year's Return to Work Achievement was awarded to joint winners - St Mary's Primary School Business Manager Maree McLean and Yarrawonga Riverlands Tourist Park Manager Dennis Gabriel.
St Mary's Primary School Principal Kate Quin credited Maree's recovery from a mental injury to her positive approach and determination.
"Maree took on every bit of advice from health professionals to have a sustainable return to work and she is still making a remarkable contribution to the school," Ms Quin said.
After sustaining multiple physical injuries from a fall that almost cost him his life, Dennis's return to work is nothing short of incredible. With the support of his employer who flew from Brisbane to attend meetings, he was back working just six weeks after the incident.
The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Leadership and Achievement was awarded to civil construction company Seymour Whyte Constructions for a second consecutive year, this time for its innovative approach to the Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road upgrade project.
Seymour Whyte's Senior Project Engineer, Matthew Owen said the scale of the project required challenging the traditional approaches to high-risk work.
"We weren't willing to accept that what's worked once, will work again, given the job possessed some unique challenges," Mr Owen said.
The award for Workplace Health and Safety Solution of the Year went to Natural Growth Partners for its tree planting solution, Tree Coach, designed to reduce hazardous manual handling injuries.
Manor Lakes Community Learning Centre took out the Excellence in Preventing and Managing Psychosocial Risk award for its extensive collaboration to develop a tailored solution to address a complex psychosocial risk; while Warakirri Cropping was commended for its Farm Safety Solution which proactively addresses the psychosocial hazards for remote and isolated workers in the agriculture industry.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital received the Leading Return to Work Practice award for transforming its return to work practices to provide a collaborative approach between injured workers and their managers.
Manny Mason was named Health and Safety Representative of the year for consistently going above and beyond to support and advocate for his colleagues at the City of Ballarat.
WorkSafe Chief Executive Officer Cathy Henderson praised the award finalists for their innovative and proactive approaches in addressing health and safety issues in the workplace.
"The quality of this year's entries was outstanding and I want to congratulate all of our finalists along with the worthy award winners," Ms Henderson said.
"It's inspiring to hear stories of resilience from those who have returned to work after injury and see the meaningful contribution of those dedicated to protecting the health and safety of their colleagues and workers across Victoria."
Tracey Browne from Australian Industry Group was also commended for her Outstanding Leadership and Contribution to Health and Safety across more than 20 years of providing expertise on OHS and workers compensation in Victoria and at a national level.
2025 WorkSafe Awards winners
OHS Leadership/Achievement
Healesville - Koo Wee Rup Road Project - Seymour Whyte Constructions
Civil construction company Seymour Whyte led the Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Road upgrade, a major infrastructure project which saw 2,100 machines on site and 600,000 tonnes of material moved. Seymour Whyte demonstrated its commitment to the health and safety of its workforce by challenging traditional approaches and implementing bespoke solutions to redefine safety in infrastructure.
Excellence in Preventing Managing Psychosocial Risk
Manor Lakes Community Learning Centre
An increase in the number of young people displaying aggressive and harmful behaviours when attending the Manor Lakes Community Learning Centre (MLCLC) led the team to undertake extensive consultation to understand the hazards impacting its workforce. As a result, MLCLC develop a suite of actions and tools to shift the focus from managing psychosocial risk from a reactive approach to a proactive one.
Farm Safety Solution
Warakirri Cropping
Warakirri Cropping designed and delivered a tailored and proactive intervention to reduce the risk of psychological harm to its remote and isolated workers. Through data review and genuine consultation, Warakirri Cropping were able to establish trust, to drive engagement with the on-site psychology service model.
Leading Return to Work Practice
Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) has undergone significant transformation in its approach to return to work practices, cultivating a supportive and proactive environment for injured workers. As part of this, RMH redefined the roles within its Injury Management Team to reflect a partnership model reinforcing a collaborative approach between injured workers and their managers.
Worker Return to Work
Maree McLean - Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education
After 35 years working at St Mary's Primary School, Swan Hill, Maree sustained a mental injury and was initially unable to get out of bed. Maree accessed psychological treatment and with the support of her employer and self-determination, she returned to full-time work after 12 months. Maree says "there shouldn't be a stigma attached to these things. It's okay that I wasn't okay."
Dennis Gabriel - Yarrawonga Riverlands Tourist Park
Dennis fell through a laserlite roof, sustaining multiple physical injuries that almost cost him his life. Returning to work meant much more than just having a job, it meant returning to normal life, a sense of routine, identity and purpose. Dennis describes his recovery as a team effort where everyone from his employer and family to his treating physicians supported his return to work after just six weeks.
Workplace Health and Safety Solution of the Year
Tree Coach - Natural Growth Partners
Tree Coach reduces the risk of manual handling and repetitive strains on site installations of trees by eliminating the need for stake ramming and heavy lifting. Once Tree Coach is installed in the ground with the tree and excavation is backfilled, the surrounding compacted earth holds Tree Coach in place, and the tree is tied to Tree Coach stakes for support.
Health and Safety Representative of the Year
Manny Mason - City of Ballarat
Manny maintains an unwavering dedication to justice, safety, and dignity in the workplace.
Most recently, Manny demonstrated his ability to combine empathy with assertive advocacy to ensure a vulnerable worker was protected and supported through a traumatic experience. He held the employer accountable to their legal obligations and advocated for the worker's safe return to work. Manny's actions set a precedent for how such matters should be handled across the organisation.
Outstanding Leadership and Contribution to Health and Safety
Tracey Browne
Tracey has extensive experience in manufacturing and held senior roles in human resources, work health and safety and workers' compensation management. Since 2001, Tracey has been part of the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group), a peak national employer organisation representing over 60,000 businesses across diverse sectors including manufacturing, construction, technology and engineering. She has been described as a 'safety legend' and will be sorely missed once she begins her retirement in July.
