St John WA recognised for workplace safety excellence

Teams from St John WA secured a number of accolades at the 2026 Work Health and Safety Excellence Awards at Optus Stadium, including a well-deserved win for Event Health Services (EHS). 

The awards recognise Western Australian workplaces that have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to improving work health and safety through practical and innovative solutions. 

EHS won the ‘Leadership Excellence Award’ for organisations with more than 200 people. 

Their submission, ‘Behind the Green Line: Leading WHS Excellence in Event Medical Operations’, details how EHS has strengthened its approach to workplace health and safety across complex, fast-moving event environments, supporting more than 900 volunteers and 80 paid staff. 

By embedding safety into everyday operations and adopting Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System (AIIMS) principles, EHS has established clearer decision-making processes, stronger accountability and a shared responsibility for safety. 

The approach has helped build a proactive safety culture, ensuring teams are supported to deliver safe and effective patient care, even in unpredictable and high-pressure environments. 

Recent events highlighted as examples of this approach included the Metallica and Ed Sheeran concerts at Optus Stadium, as well as the Perth Royal Show and Busselton Festival of Triathlon. 

St John WA was also recognised as a finalist in the same category for its Integrated Psychosocial Safety Management System, acknowledging the organisation’s ongoing commitment to supporting the psychological health, safety and wellbeing of its workforce. 

St John WA’s very own Claire Dadd was also celebrated as a finalist in the Health and Safety Representative of the Year category. 

This recognition reflects Claire’s passion for safety, her advocacy for our people in rural and remote areas, and her commitment to fostering a positive safety culture throughout the organisation. 

Learn more about the awards.