WA Civil Works Safety Forum

2026 WA Civil Works Safety Forum Program

Robyn Collard, Whadjuk Ballardong Yorga Elder

Ashley Vincent, Deputy Director-General of Major Infrastructure Delivery

7:55am | Worksafe Commissioner's keynote

Sally North, WorkSafe WA Commissioner

Keynote address by Western Australia’s chief work health and safety regulator.

8:25am | The story before the statistic: What workplace injuries can teach us

Rebecca Harris, Workcover CEO

We often measure workplace harm in statistics, yet every injury begins as a human story. This presentation explores the lessons hidden behind workers' compensation trends and challenges safety leaders to look beyond the numbers to understand the factors that shape risk, recovery and resilience.

8:55am | Psychosocial risk – our journey so far

Tony Dennis, Water Corporation Head of Safety

This presentation will cover Water Corporation’s journey over the last five years in upskilling our people, identifying key hazards and developing a management framework for Psychosocial risk.

9:15am | Challenging the future of utility information

Mell Greenall, Before You Dig Australia CEO

BYDA's new digital utility portal showcases how the industry can move from paper to digital whilst still supporting safety and improving project planning and decision making.

9:40am | Preventing rollovers on project sites

Steven Pelham, Office of Major Transport Infrastructure Delivery (OMTID) Safety and Quality Manager

Recent data shows an alarming trend of tipper-related rollovers and tipping instability events across projects, including multiple trailer rollover incidents on OMTID projects during 2026. OMTID seeks to work with industry to address this persistent and potentially catastrophic industry risk.

9:55am | Panel discussion

Panellists:  Philip Roche, HSE Manager WA at BMD Group; Sally North; Steven Pelham; and Tony Dennis.

Panel members will discuss key messages from the first session's presentations and answer attendees' questions.

10:50am | Contractor safety management

Greg Smith, Partner at Jackson McDonald

Contractor safety management continues to be one of the most challenging and misunderstood areas of WHS law, with many traditional approaches increasing rather than limiting legal risk. Greg will explore the fundamental legal principles and suggest some ideas for more effective contractor safety management approaches.

11:20am | Who was it written for?

Rob Orelj, FSC Civils HSEQ Manager

A reflection on the gap between systems that are technically sound and systems that actually work for the person on the ground - and on how long it took Rob to recognise that gap in his own work.

11:40am | Safety with neurodiverse employment

Stephen Broad, Scapes Civil Founder

Stephen shares his experiences and learnings from starting a civil contracting business with a 100% neurodiverse workforce. His key message – don’t ask why, ask why not.

12:00pm | Using technology to improve critical risk understanding

Cam Stevens, Pocket Knife Group Managing Director

Workers, machines and supervisors see the same job differently. Using first-person and machine-mounted video, plus voice-based debriefs, to understand critical risk and modernise how controls are managed.

12:25pm | Panel discussion, concluding remarks

Panellists:  Anton Piccinin, HSEQ Manager at Saltire Infrastructure; Rob Orelj, HSEQ Manager at FSC Civils.

Panel members will discuss key messages from the second session's presentations and answer attendees' questions.