NOJA Power Achieves Highly Commended Status in Queensland Safe Work Awards 2014

Electrical switchgear engineers NOJA Power today announces it has received the Highly Commended Award in the “Best demonstrated leadership in work health and safety” category of the Queensland Safe Work Awards 2014. Since 2012, the Safe Work Awards have recognized and celebrated outstanding workplace health and safety initiatives in Queensland.

The award underlines NOJA Power’s commitment to safety as the highest priority for the company, acting as a guiding principle for its entire business. The award also positions NOJA Power as an example to other Australian companies implementing their own safety policies.

The presentation of the Highly Commended Award––which saw NOJA Power among three companies selected from over fifty nominees for the leadership award––was made at a ceremony held in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium at the end of October. Managing Director Neil O’Sullivan and Directors Oleg Samarski and Quynh Anh Le, together with QHSE Manager Dr. Rabiul Alam, attended the Safe Work Awards 2014 Ceremony on behalf of the company. The event was presided over by Jarrod Bleijie, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice for Queensland with Queensland State of Origin rugby league Coach and Safety Ambassador Mal Meninga in attendance.

“This award builds on NOJA Power’s commitment to make safety a driving principle of everything we do,” says Neil O’Sullivan, NOJA Power’s Managing Director. “For example, we ensure our products are type tested for reliability and all of the company’s auto-reclosers employ arc fault containment to protect people on the ground in the unlikely event of failure. We have also introduced products such as a Recloser App for a smartphone that allows Linesmen to check the status of auto-recloser without the risk of having to climb up to a pole-mounted control cubicle in all weathers.”

Independent research indicates poor employee health management often leads to absenteeism costing Australian businesses $7 billion per annum. ‘Presenteeism’ (whereby an employee attends work but underperforms due to a medical condition) costs Australian companies nearly $34 billion per annum.

NOJA Power started its health and wellbeing initiative in January 2012 by establishing educational programs and healthy practices for employees. Since then, the company has developed a comprehensive workplace health and wellbeing initiative entitled “Safety is important – health is your life” to improve employees’ safe work- and health-practices––by addressing factors such as poor diet, lack of exercise, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption––resulting in reduced workplace injuries (by 29 percent compared with the year before the program commenced), sickness (48 percent) and staff turnover (62.5 percent), and improved productivity.

“The Highly Commended Award in the ‘Best demonstrated leadership in work health and safety’ of the Queensland Safe Work Awards 2014 is testament to the work the QHSE Manager and his staff have put in to establish NOJA Power’s health and wellbeing initiative,” adds O’Sullivan.

The company’s commitment to improving and maintaining health and wellbeing of employees forms part of its Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policy Statement. The initiative is integrated in the Health Safety and Environmental Management System (HSEMS) of the Company which is certified to OHSAS 18001, AS/NZS 4801 and AS/NZS ISO 14001 standards.