The WA Civil Works Safety Forum is back for 2025! CCF WA is again collaborating with Main Roads WA and the Public Transport Authority to present a one-day program packed with information, insights and best practice for anyone interested in safely delivering civil construction projects in WA.
Highlights of the program include:
Welcome address by Director-General, Transport Portfolio
Peter Woronzow
Keynote address by Worksafe Commissioner Sally North
Keynote address by award-winning author and lawyer Greg
Smith
Subjects to be covered will include: -
Delivering impactful
pre-starts
- Crystalline Silica -
practical prevention
- Mental health and
wellbeing tools and tactics
- New developments in
protecting underground services
And more to come!
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DATE: Tuesday, October 21, 2025
TIME: 8:30am - 2:30pm
VENUE: Crown Ballroom, Crown Perth
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The WA Civil Works Safety Forum will bring together like-minded infrastructure delivery and safety professionals to share and learn information on new developments and best practice in safely managing civil construction projects in Western Australia.
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2025 WA Civil Works Safety Forum Program
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Welcoming addresses (8:30 - 8:50am)
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CCF WA Welcome Andy Graham, CCF WA CEO
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Welcome to Country
Walter McGuire
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Welcome Address
Peter Woronzow, Director-General, Transport & Major Infrastructure
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First Session (8:50 - 10:50am)
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Raising the safety bar Ashley Vincent, Deputy Director-General, Transport &
Major Infrastructure Drawing on his extensive experience managing State Government water and transport infrastructure programs, Ashley Vincent will share his views on how clients and contractors can work together to achieve a step change in making our sites safer.
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Health and wellbeing tools
Lisa Mitchell, HSE Regional Manager WA-NT, Laing O’Rourke
A comprehensive approach to safety integrates physical safety with psychological safety to improve health and wellbeing. This interactive presentation explores how to put that theory into practice on construction sites.
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Technologies driving safer sites
Jeff Hugo, General Manager WA/NT, C.R. Kennedy
Nick Corr, Market Development Manager Safety Solutions, Abaxa
Advancements in autonomous technologies, including AI, are improving risk detection and behaviour correction capabilities, and improving the overall safety of construction sites.
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Simplifying safety – effective prestarts
Sarah Pettit, Regional HSE Manager, Georgiou
Adam Shanley, Project Manager, Rob Carr
More panellists TBC
The prestart is a daily opportunity to refocus on safety and refresh important messages. Our experienced panellists share their thoughts and discuss the keys to delivering impactful prestarts.
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Second Session (11am - 1:00pm)
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Worksafe Commissioner’s address
Sally North, Worksafe WA Commissioner Keynote address by Western Australia’s chief work health and safety regulator.
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Fatigue, fairness, and liability: managing rosters and Award compliance
Craig Fordham Senior Associate, Employment Law HHG Legal Group
This presentation explores the legal, operational, and human challenges of managing worker fatigue in the construction industry through effective and Award compliant rostering practices.
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Main Roads’ critical safety risks
Speakers to be confirmed, Main Roads WA
Main Roads strives for safer outcomes on its project sites. A primary focus is identifying innovative methods to mitigate the twelve Critical Risks including mobile plant, live traffic, falls from heights, and service strikes.
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Crystalline Silica – practical prevention
Alan Thain, Principal Scientific Officer, Worksafe WA
Philip Roche, Regional HSW Manager WA, BMD
More panellists TBC
The panel will discuss some of the issues covered so far at the Safety Forum and respond to audience questions/comments.
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Third Session (1:30 - 3:00pm)
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Measuring WHS success and the ‘illusion of safety’
Greg Smith, Partner – Workplace Relations, Jackson McDonald
In a presentation based on his recent book ‘Proving Safety’, Greg argues that traditional measures of WHS performance are neither effective nor legally compliant, and offers alternative ways of thinking about measures of safety.
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Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE): Unlocking a new era of safety
Robert Osborn, Executive General Manager, Abaxa
Accurate utility location through SUE is not just risk mitigation; it’s a proactive commitment to protecting lives. Integrating Australian Standard AS5488 with real-world, high-precision subsurface data creates safer planning, excavation, and delivery of projects.
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Drug trends – current and emerging
Glenn Dobson, Chief Executive Officer, The Drug Detection Agency
Drugs and their effects impact the health & safety of all workplaces. The ability to know what drugs are currently being used and what is happening globally plays a positive part in workplace health and safety.
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Panel discussion: Themes and takeaways
Panellists TBC
The panel will discuss a wide range of the issues covered at the Safety Forum, provide their own perspectives, and respond to audience questions/comments.
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2024 WA Civil Works Safety Forum
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