What’s the issue?

The safety, health and wellbeing of our team and customers is our number one priority. Our goal is to make sure that everyone arrives home after working, shopping or visiting our business free from any kind of harm or injury.

We know that health and safety is not just about physical wellbeing, it is also supporting our team to achieve great mental health and wellbeing outcomes. In doing so, enabling them to bring their best selves to work every day, and enjoy the moments more when not at work.

What are we doing?

In the past year we have continued to see improvement in our safety performance, resulting in our safest year yet with the Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) reducing to 6.1. In real terms, this means that during the past 12 months, 57 team members have lost one or more shifts due to an injury at work. While one injury is one too many, a TRIFR of 6.1 represents a 22.8 per cent reduction when compared to last year.

Contributing to these results was our hazard reduction strategic initiative, which delivered a transformation in the way in which team members and customers interacted with more than 300 big and bulky products. Transitioning these items to a direct delivery model reduced the need for manual handling from our team and customers, and therefore avoids the exposure to manual handling risks. From a physical safety perspective, we have also made positive progress in reducing our sprain and strain injuries instore which are attributed to performing manual handling tasks.

Beyond physical safety, we are giving our team access to tools and programs to support their mental health. Our mental health and wellbeing program, Your Best Life, is a holistic program that provides team members with tools, resources and initiatives to improve wellbeing, supporting our team to live their best life. Some of these initiatives include;

• The introduction of a 12 week initiative, Moving Mindz, to support the wellbeing of our team's mind, body and soul. More than 35 per cent of our team voluntarily participated in the program, enabling them to connect, move and thrive during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
• The appointment of Converge International as our new provider of our Employee Assistance Program, increasing the support, services and focus on our team’s mental health.
• Creating an environment where our team are comfortable talking about mental health and reducing stigma, which included promoting conversations and sharing stories around mental health, providing mental health training, and by recognising events such as RUOK? Day.
• The formation of a Workplace Safety Committee and Mental Health Oversight Committee to create the foundations for our safety due diligence and mental health frameworks. The Officeworks Leadership Team are committed to, and actively lead, these committees to ensure team members stay safe and well./li>

Focus for FY2022

Our focus in the coming year continues to be empowering our team to live their best life through investment in mental health and wellbeing programs and embedding a safety mindset into everything we do. Teams will work collectively to assess and solve current challenges, correct each other’s behaviours and identify new ways to support continuous improvement. We plan to increase investments across mental health programs to empower all team members to care for and prioritise their own mental health. This includes providing ongoing education to help reduce stigma around mental illness and to ensure our leaders are equipped to best support their teams. Following the success of the Moving Mindz program in 2020, a new iteration of the program will also be launched.

Learn more about another 2025 commitment