Health & Safety Month 2022 presenter profiles

Colin Radford

Chief Executive Officer, WorkSafe Victoria

Colin Radford was appointed Chief Executive Officer of WorkSafe Victoria in November 2019. WorkSafe is Victoria’s occupational health and safety regulator and workplace injury insurer.

In a 30 year career working in and with the Victorian Public sector, Colin has held many senior roles including most recently, as CEO of the Victorian Management Insurance Authority, where he oversaw a major cultural and strategic transformation. He has previously served as an executive at WorkSafe and the Transport Accident Commission, has held senior roles in Ministerial offices, advising three Victorian Premiers and as Chief of Staff to a Cabinet Minister.

He spent seven years as a Partner at Deloitte, where he led the Victorian Government practice and was the National Public Sector Leader for Financial Advisory Services.

A Graduate of Columbia Business School (New York) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Colin is also a Fellow of the Institute of Public Administration and the Williamson Community Leadership Program. In 2019, Colin was recognised as Australia’s CEO Diversity Champion, by the Australian Human Resources Institute.

Narelle Beer

Executive Director of Health and Safety, WorkSafe Victoria

Dr Narelle Beer is the Executive Director of Health and Safety at WorkSafe Victoria.

She commenced this role in November, 2021, after having spent more than 35 years serving the community, ensuring public safety and growing organisational legitimacy. Prior to commencing with WorkSafe, Narelle served as Assistant Commissioner, Regional and Remote Operations, with the Northern Territory Police. This followed 30 years of service as a member of Victoria Police. Narelle has worked in Criminal Investigation, Corruption Investigation, Collision investigation, Education and the Corporate / Policy departments. She has managed and led a number of taskforces into corruption within Victoria Police.

Narelle has undertaken extensive postgraduate study and been awarded a number of scholarships, which have enabled her to travel to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam and the United States.

In 2008, Narelle was awarded the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship for Ethical Leadership presented by the St James Ethics Centre. In 2013, she was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship and travelled to the United Kingdom and the United States to undertake specialist training in Integrity testing and corruption investigations. Narelle was the Chairperson of Australia New Zealand Police Advisory Agency's Integrity Testing Working Group for four years.

Narelle's executive leadership role at WorkSafe has enabled her to focus on enhancing workplace safety and embedding harm reduction processes, opportunities and strategies through engagement, education, compliance and enforcement.

She remains committed to preventing harm in the workplace, while improving outcomes for injured workers.

James Webster

Program officer, WorkSafe Victoria

Prior to joining WorkSafe in April 2018, James worked as an A-Grade electrician in the construction industry.

In his time at WorkSafe, James has enjoyed the roles of construction inspector, technical inspector and program officer. James is in the process of completing his Bachelors of Public Health and Health Promotion at Deakin University, which has helped him in his role as a program officer within the Strategy team, assisting in the development of prevention initiatives such as the Priority Harms Project.

Tony Cockerell

Manager construction operations, WorkSafe Victoria

Tony Cockerell has been at WorkSafe since 2000.Prior to WorkSafe, Tony mainly worked on heavy engineering construction projects at Major hazard facilities and off shore oil rigs. Tony worked as a crane operator and rigger/scaffolder in the construction industry. In his time at WorkSafe, Tony has enjoyed the roles of construction inspector, senior inspector, team leader and his current role as Manager Construction operations. As part of his many roles he has worked on developing industry guidance and strategic interventions to reduce workplace harm.

Anita Forde

Manager Industry and Representation Support, WorkSafe Victoria

Anita Forde is the Manager, Industry and Representation Support a newly formed team within the Field Operations that focuses on representation (in all its forms) and the importance of Victoria’s HSRs. Prior to this role Anita has worked as the Group Leader driving the Corrections Taskforce and as a Senior Inspector within the Psychosocial Inspectorate. With 9 years’ experience as an OHS regulator and her qualifications in Social Work, Anita understands the importance of reducing workplace harm and the potential impacts when things go wrong.

Sara Jorgenson and Sally Collier-Clarke

2022 Health & Safety Month Ambassadors

Sara Jorgenson and Sally Collier-Clarke are WorkSafe's 2022 Health & Safety Month Ambassadors. They were winners in the WorkSafe Awards 2019 - Health & Safety Representative of the Year. They have been HSR’s and Bendigo health since 2018 where they have been midwives for 16 years.

Abir Elamin

Group Leader, WorkSafe Victoria

As an Occupational Health and Safety Inspector at WorkSafe Victoria, Abi has over twenty years experience in the field of Occupational Health and Safety and Workers Compensation. Abi is passionate about educating employers and ensuring that people get to go home safe to their loved ones. And she does this everyday by undertaking workplace inspections to ensure that employers are compliant with OHS laws, providing practical guidance and support on hazard identification, risk control, and also promoting consultation and representation of workers in health and safety matters. Through her role, Abi can speak from an Occupational Health and Safety perspective providing an overview of OHS standards, rights, roles and responsibilities as well as highlighting what works well and sharing relevant insights and proposed solutions.

Danielle Moss

Social Worker, Thriving in Health

Danielle Moss is a social worker, with over 20 years of clinical, education and leadership experience across Victorian public hospitals. She has spent a considerable amount of her career working in a clinical context with patients and families to help them navigate complex systems when they’re unwell. She is particularly interested in the design of work systems for people who care for others – like healthcare systems and how to create systems change to prevent mental injury in our health workforce.

Grace Norrie

Project Officer, CSPU

As Project Officer on the CPSU’s Vicarious Trauma Prevention and Awareness Toolkit, Grace Norrie provided subject matter expertise on system-level vicarious trauma prevention. Alongside working with the project’s pilot sites, she focused on creating accessible resources for employers and employees. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Queensland and a Master of Social Work from RMIT University.

Felicity Sims

Program Manager, WorkSafe Victoria

Felicity Sims is a Program Manager for WorkSafe's WorkWell Program. Her career has transitioned from international diplomacy to public health. She brings a broad range of influencing skills to lead the team that is continually improving the WorkWell toolkit to promote mental health and prevent mental injury for Victorian employers.

Libby Brook

Principal Psychological Health and Safety Specialist, WorkSafe Victoria

Dr Libby Brook is the Principal Psychological Health and Safety Specialist at WorkSafe, and her team in the Psychological Health and Safety Unit focuses on prevention of psychological injury in Victorian workplaces. She has experience in public and private industries, as well as academia. Her published research includes fatigue risk management, work factors, and the impacts of work on mental health.

Amy Salmon

Senior Psychological Health and Safety Specialist, WorkSafe Victoria

Amy Salmon is a Registered Psychologist and Senior Psychological Health and Safety Specialist at WorkSafe. Amy has extensive experience consulting to organisations to identify risks to psychological health and safety and to develop tailored solutions to meet their needs. Amy has experience in development and delivery of training programs and leadership coaching within both the public and private sector, and is passionate about creating psychologically safe and healthy workplaces.

Lucas Kowalski

Return to Work Manager, WorkSafe Victoria

Lucas Kowalski joined WorkSafe in July 2018 after 10 years in various roles across Claims Management, RTW and Customer Service. Lucas delivered a number of programs of work whilst at an Agent with a focus on early, safe and sustainable RTW outcomes supported by a high level of customer service for injured workers and employers. At WorkSafe Lucas collaborates closely with the occupational rehabilitation provider panel and Agents on recovery and return to work support services for injured workers and employers.

Nabeel Nizam

Manager, RTW & Compensation Management

Nabeel Nizam has 13 years’ experience in workers’ compensation across claims management, RTW, customer service, dispute resolution and self-insurance. His work experience spans across WorkSafe Agent, Local Government and currently in Emergency Services at Ambulance Victoria. Nabeel has a passion for sourcing and successfully implementing evidence based RTW and recovery solutions that is underpinned by exceptional care for the injured worker.

Adam Gualano

Practice Group Manager, DXC

Adam Gualano is currently employed as a Practice Group Manager at DXC Claims Management Services. He looks after three teams of claims professionals, each with the important role of assisting injured workers return to work following a workplace injury. He has 17 years of industry experience and has held previous roles as a Team Manager and Technical Manager.

Sarah Ross

OHS Unit Coordinator, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU)

A health and safety expert, Sarah has represented workers in the automotive industry, including mechanics in the Bus industry, for over 30 years. Her role includes supporting employees and their HSRs, encouraging employers to implement good OHS controls, and advocating for improved safety standards within WorkSafe Victoria.

Tegan Donald

Senior Consultant, Rapid Context

Dr Tegan Donald is a Senior Consultant at Rapid Context who specialises in research and evaluation with a particular focus on organisational culture and workplace wellbeing. As an organisational culture specialist and science communicator Tegan has a deep interest in how evidence-based research and evaluation can be used to inform policy, strategy and workplace change to make a real difference in people’s lives – especially their lives at work. Rapid Context’s Work, Worker and Workplace Wellbeing Project involves research to understand the work-related factors impacting on mental health and wellbeing in manufacturing workplaces and the development of evidence-based, innovative and targeted interventions to prevent mental injury.

Rebecca Marshall

Program Manager, WorkSafe Victoria

Dr Rebecca Marshall is a Program Manager of WorkSafe's WorkWell Program. Rebecca leads a skilled team responsible for the delivery of the WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund and Learning Networks that are building the evidence base on effective approaches to prevent mental injury and promote mental health at work.

Rebecca comes from a public health and community development background, working in diverse roles spanning academia, government and not for profit. Rebecca specialises in project management, stakeholder engagement, qualitative research and evaluation and is committed to improving systems that enhance the mental health, safety and wellbeing of people through work.

Pia Cerveri

Program Officer, WorkSafe Victoria

Pia Cerveri is a social worker with experience in the statutory, community and local government sectors. In recent years Pia worked at the Victorian Trades Hall Council developing a campaign including training focused on eradicating gendered violence in the workplace. During this time Pia completed a Masters in Narrative Therapy and her thesis was based upon this work. In 2022 Pia moved to WorkSafe where she continues to work on improving outcomes for workers who are subjected to gendered violence including sexual harassment in the workplace.

Pia strongly believes that the Victorian OHS Act, WorkSafe, unions, HSRs and other stakeholders are in a unique and powerful position to eliminate gendered violence and other psychosocial hazards from workplaces. Pia is extremely passionate about this work, motivated to contribute to the creation of a just world in which all people, and specifically those exposed to gendered violence, such as women and LGBTIQ people, are able to live in safety and equality.

Helen Lynch

Psychologist and Program Officer, WorkSafe Victoria

Helen Lynch is a Psychologist and Program Officer in the Return to Work Branch at WorkSafe Victoria. She has over 20 years industry experience across occupational rehabilitation, policy development, claims and injury management.

The focus of Helen’s recent work has been collaborating at the industry level for maximising the value and benefit of occupational rehabilitation for all clients.

Ben Lingard

Area Manager, WorkFocus

Ben Lingard is the WorkFocus Area Manager for Victoria, Tasmania, ACT and Queensland. Ben has spent time as a clinical exercise physiologist as well as in research settings; working to create the first exercise program completed during dialysis for kidney disease patients. For the last 9 years, Ben has held Rehabilitation Consultant and managerial roles in the Victorian Occupational Rehabilitation sector, specifically within MedHealth. Ben now supports and mentors more than 50 team members to deliver gold standard rehab support to injured workers and their employers across Victoria and interstate.

Dannae Campbell

Principal Process Safety Analyst, WorkSafe Victoria

Dannae Campbell is the Principal Process Safety Analyst at WorkSafe Victoria. As a key member of the Chemical Safety Division, Dannae acts as an extremely knowledgeable mentor to the Major Hazards Team, with responsibilities including major hazard facility safety case assessments, land use planning reviews for proposed facilities and acting as a subject matter expert in the recent offshore MHF regulatory reform project. Dannae has a passion for the energy transition and the many innovative projects currently being proposed to market, and their impact on Victorians, and is excited to finally see the changes to the industry coming to fruition after being just around the corner for so long.

Stuart Duncanson

Major Construction Projects Senior Engineer, WorkSafe Victoria

Stuart Duncanson joined WorkSafe in 2019 as a Senior Engineer in Major Construction Projects. He is currently the Group Leader for Renewable Energies Construction.

Prior to joining WorkSafe, Stuart managed engineering for Wind Farm construction projects in Victoria and held roles in Project Management and Engineering across Oil & Gas, Mining and Infrastructure projects.

Ric Fisher

Construction Inspector, WorkSafe Victoria

Ric is an inspector with WorkSafe's construction team working in Melbourne's East. He has industry experience in telecommunications (installation, maintenance and management), civil and modular construction, network construction, restoration and bio-decontamination. He is a member of the Australian Institute of Health and Safety and has a master’s degree in occupational health safety and environmental management. In his spare time he volunteers in scouting, goes rock climbing & does martial arts.

Sharon Newnam

Head of School - Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology

Professor Sharon Newnam is the Head of School, Psychology and Counselling at the Queensland University of Technology. Sharon has published widely in the area of workplace safety from a systems-thinking perspective and has applied this knowledge to improve safety across industries, including transportation and healthcare. Sharon is a prolific author, is an Associate Editor of the leading safety journal Safety Science, and an international member on a Transportation Research Board committee, which is a division of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

Jodi Oakman

Associate Professor at Centre for Ergonomics and Human Factors, La Trobe University

Associate Professor Jodi Oakman leads the Centre for Ergonomics and Human Factors at La Trobe University. She is the current holder of a MRFF TRIP Fellowship, which is focussed on translating research evidence into practice in the area of MSD prevention. She also currently leads a range of projects on the influences of working at home on health and well-being, women, work and COVID-19 and barriers to implementing evidence informed approaches to MSD prevention using systems thinking to underpin her research program.

Perdita Dickson

Program Manager, WorkSafe Victoria

Perdita Dickson is the Manager of Occupational Health and Operational Programs with WorkSafe Victoria. She is an occupational hygienist with over 15 years of experience in manufacturing, health care and as a regulator. Perdita joined WorkSafe Victoria as a Senior Occupational Hygienist and moved into the Prevention, Strategy and Planning Division in 2021 as the Manager of Occupational Health and Operational Programs is leading WorkSafe’s Occupational Health program

Halil Ahmet

Principal Hygienist, WorkSafe Victoria

Halil Ahmet is a Principal Occupational Hygienist with WorkSafe Victoria and is also appointed as an Inspector under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Dangerous Goods Act. He has been engaged with WorkSafe Victoria as an Occupational Hygienist since 1990 and in that time has visited hundreds of workplaces regarding a range of hazards and issues including silica, asbestos, lead, confined spaces, heat stress and many other substances and issues. He represents WorkSafe on various National and State Working Groups.

Benjamin Wright

Earth Resources and Silica Manager, WorkSafe Victoria

Bio coming soon.

Jennifer Fry

Director, WorkWell at WorkSafe Victoria

Jennifer Fry is the Director of WorkWell at WorkSafe Victoria and leads a passionate and skilled team who have created the WorkWell suite of products improving the mental health of Victorian workplaces. Jennifer is an Occupational Therapist with a background in occupational rehabilitation, policy, research and public health. She has worked as both a clinician and manager within the public and private health sectors and is committed to improving systems that enhance peoples’ health, inclusiveness and participation at work.