A workplace competition, an incident simulation, four webinars and two mock trials are among the events being promoted by SafeWork SA as part of this year’s campaign.

The theme in 2024 is Safety is everyone’s business(external site) with weekly sub themes including Work health and safety fundamentals, Psychosocial hazards, Risk management fundamentals and Musculoskeletal injuries.

Latest Safe Work Australia data(external site) shows a total of 195 Australians were killed at work in 2022, including 14 in South Australia.

National Safe Work Month has been held since 2009 after workplace deaths in Australia reached a peak of 310 in 2007.

South Australian events in 2024 include mock court trials at Playford Civic Centre on Thursday 10 October and Hallett Cove Civic Centre on Monday 21 October. There will also be a mock incident investigation at Hallett Cove Civic Centre on Monday 14 October.

Run by the Local Government Association Workers’ Compensation Scheme, the public mock trials provide insights into the legal framework around work health and safety laws with representatives from Sparke Helmore Lawyers and SafeWork SA.

The incident investigation takes place in the lead up to the mock trial and follows the same case at a fictitious local council where a contractor engaged to build a nature playground injures a child at the work site.

Register for the free events here:

Playford Civic Centre Mock Trial – Thursday 10 October(external site)

Cove Civic Centre Incident Investigation – Monday 14 October(external site)

Cove Civic Centre Mock Trial – Monday 21 October (external site)

SafeWork SA will host four webinars during the month to raise awareness about a range of issues, including: how to spot psychosocial hazards in the workplace, the dangers associated with hazardous manual tasks and how to avoid them and a webinar covering the outcomes and next steps following a campaign on vehicle hoist safety in mechanic workshops.

Click here to register for one of our National Safe Work Month webinars.

SafeWork SA is again running its popular ‘Organise Your Own Workplace Activity’ competition.

Workplaces are encouraged to start planning an activity that will raise awareness about important work health and safety issues.

By registering an activity with SafeWork SA, businesses will go into the running to win a prize from our $2,000 prize pool. The competition runs throughout the month so workplaces can register their activity anytime until 31 October 2024.

SafeWork SA’s  Augusta Zadow Awards will also be presented during the month at a Government House ceremony on 25 October.

As part of National Safe Work Month activities, workplaces are encouraged to put safety on the agenda by organising a SafeTea (external site)(external site) event.

A national initiative, SafeTea (external site)(external site) emphasises the importance of involving everyone in WHS (external site)(external site) discussions by encouraging workplaces to grab a cuppa and have a safety chat.

A full calendar of events is available on SafeWork SA’s National Safe Work Month web page.

To stay in touch with the latest SafeWork SA news and events, subscribe to our e-News or follow us on social media via Instagram(external site), Facebook(external site)(external site) and LinkedIn(external site)(external site).

Download your free National Safe Work Month resources(external site) including posters, social tiles and digital assets here(external site).